The Week in Review

I've been getting a lot of "flack" from fans of my blog about not posting. I have no real excuse but I can assure you that I have working every day as well as going out almost every night. Life in Vallarta is interesting, challenging and always changing. The noises I hear at night through my bedroom window would probably cause most of you to head to the airport and catch the next plane back to civilization. I just smile, adjust my ear plugs and try to go back to sleep.

Lately, I've heard coconuts falling. It actually sounds like someone on the roof is tossing bombs over the side which crash through the trees before slamming onto Arturo's patio below my window. The other night, he and a friend woke me up trying to wrestle the coconuts off the patio and onto a huge, noisy, plastic tarp so the friend could haul them away. Did I mention this occurred at 1AM? It's difficult to get angry with Arturo. He is our landlord and incredibly handsome. He thinks Colleen and I are the most beautiful women in Vallarta. Oh, and rich too since we're always working. Too bad he plays for the "other team"!

And then there is the "new" dog in the neighbourhood. He must be very big because he is very loud. And he always starts his barking AFTER 11PM, like some kind of weird, inverted noise by-law. One night last week, at approximately midnight, I threw my jean jacket over my PJs and headed outside with a flashlight to investigate. There is a condo building way up on top of the hill directly east of our house. This poor dog was out on the balcony, whimpering, barking and pawing at the glass doors. If I can ever figure out a way to get up there, those dog owners better watch out! Thank the Goddess I know how to say "SHUT UP" in both English and Spanish.

I can't remember what I did on Monday other than work my usual eight hour day. With any luck, I came home and went to bed early. On Tuesday, we had our usual staff meeting at 9AM and I worked until 6:30PM, changed and went across the street to Lucy's CuCuCabana. Lucy's husband Gil was holding a book signing party for his two books, both of which I already own, already signed by Gil last year and the year before. However, a party is a party and they were serving free margaritas! I said hi to Gil and headed to the back of the store where I could see Lucy waving a ladle at me over a huge jug of already mixed margaritas. My friends Martin and Missy arrived shortly thereafter, as well as David and Nancy. We all bought something in the store which is the least we could do considering all the margaritas we were consuming!

Lucy left to fire up the band and the next thing you know, we had a four piece Norteño band playing live music on the street outside the store! Norteño music is kind of like Mexican polka music since the accordian is the most predominant instrument. These guys were good and very resplendent in the their matching chocolate brown suits and white boots. Besides the accordian player, there was a guitar player, a bass player and a percussionist banging out the beat on a little wooden box strapped to his waist about the size of wallet and two inches thick. These guys were awesome and not one of them was under 50 years old! A couple of Mexican ladies started dancing together on the sidewalk. My friend David knew all the words to one song and was singing to us. The band members were flirting outrageously with all the women passing by them. Ahhh ... Mexico!

We dragged ourselves away from this party and started another across the street at Cafe Frankfurt. We decided we needed to fortify ourselves with German food before commencing the Black Death Mexican Open. It was time for our annual dart tournament, the name of which sprung from Martin's overactive imagination. I think it had more to do with the fact that Cliff kicked Martin's ass playing darts one night last year and Marty wanted a rematch. Anyway, after a scrumptious dinner and more libations (I stuck with tequila, drinking my infamous "Tequila Ceasar"), we made our way to the back corner of the restaurant where Mike hides his dart board.

Cliffie and John squared off against Martin and David. Cliff's team won by ONE throw! What a game! What suspense! *YAWN* We woman sat around and talked while the guys played. Then they decided we all should play and two teams of four players each were formed. It takes a long time to play a game of darts with eight people, especially when you have to wait for people to come back from the washroom and drinks to arrive. After much laughter and good sportsmanlike behaviour, one team was victorious over the other. I can't remember if I was on the winning team or not -- by this point it didn't matter because I was laughing too much. Someone took photos. I hope I get to see them before next year's tourney.

On Wednesday, I worked a full day but I was finally getting caught up on all the merchandise to be marked and felt like I was really accomplishing something. As a result, I actually left work a few minutes early (*gasp*) and took a taxi up to Barcelonas Tapas to meet all the same people from the night before (and then some) for dinner. Bill, the owner, offered us a set price meal (195 pesos) with enough tapas to fill everyone up. Tapas are small, appetizer size dishes, ideal for sharing but there were 15 of us at the table. I was curious to see if we would get enough food. The sunset was outstanding that evening and by 7PM, we were all eating.

We each received a small bowl of shrimp bisque. Then we were all served a small green salad with pear slices and goat cheese. Then the tapas started to arrive. We were served five plates of the same dish so in fact, one dish was shared by approximately three people. We had tuna canneloni, sauteed mushrooms, chicken salad, eggplant and mozzarella with fresh diced tomatoes, beef skewers, garlic shrimp, and probably a few others I've forgotten by now. It was a lot of food. Then there was flan for dessert and ice cream in a biscuit with whipped cream. After the wine, sangria, coffees and liqueurs were consumed, the bill arrived and it was just over $5000 pesos for 15 people. Service was efficient and courteous. We left a 20% tip. The cost came to approximately $35US per person. After eating all those small bites, most of us wanted to walk home to wear off dinner so we strolled, en masse, along the Malecon, enjoying the night air, the sights and each other's company.

Are you tired yet? I'm exhausted just writing this ... I can't imagine how I did all this and got up for work every morning. But Thursday arrived just like any other day and I was at the store before 10AM. Imagine my surprise to find 17 huge boxes had arrived the night before from McAllen, Texas! So much for being caught up ... it was a crazy day and American Thanksgiving as well. I had made tentative plans to meet my friends, Bob and Kathy, at Northern Delights for a turkey dinner at 6PM but with those 17 boxes piled around me, I didn't leave the store until much later and simply walked two doors down to Steve's Bar. There I met Colleen and some of her friends for dinner. I knew from talking to Teri (Steve's better half) that she was expecting a big crowd and was planning to cook 9 turkeys. Dinner, with salad and dessert, was 120 pesos.

I don't know what I was expecting but the meal they served was incredible! Caesar salad with fresh French baguette bread and herbed, garlic, whipped butter to start. Dinner was served on a platter and consisted of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cooked carrots and cranberry sauce. I ate every single thing that Teri cooked but passed on the canned cranberries. I even ate half of my piece of pumpkin pie even though I don't usually like it. It was that good! With two beers, dinner and a tip, my dinner there was $180 pesos or $20CDN.

By now, you are probably picturing me at 200 pounds. I don't know why I'm not getting fat but I'm not! I didn't even go to the gym this week so I don't know what I'm doing right but whatever it is, I'm going to keep on doing it. I think we're up to Friday now. Friday was another hairy day at work but I got a lot accomplished and the boss was smiling at the end of the day. We had a very busy day in the store since we decided to have a sidewalk sale. This always brings people into the store, including actress Jennifer Tilley, who was trying on espadrilles with my friend Karin when I left at 6:30PM. After changing out of my uniform, I freshened my makeup and loosened my hair. I have to wear it tied up or back at work and it always a great feeling to "let my hair down" at the end of a long day and ditch the uniform as well.

I made my way down to the beach to meet friends for drinks at CCs (2 for 1 margaritas for 40 pesos), followed by dinner at Langostino's next door. I think we were 18 at the table. The food was good and the conversation was great! I waddled home around 10PM and tried to get to bed early but I stayed up for a while reading "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" -- a gift from my friend Anna, the editor of the Tribune, Vallarta's weekly English newspaper. This book is a bestseller about grammar. Anna knew I would love it so she had her ex-husband buy it in Canada and bring it down for me as a late birthday present. This book is so funny, I can't put it down! It will no doubt make me even more insufferable (is that possible?) when it comes to your punctuation, grammar and spelling mistakes. LOL

Today was my short day at work (only four hours) and I managed to get two big designers marked so that the models could wear the jewellery this weekend when they are out doing their "style shows" at the various restaurants around town. I think they visit approximately 20 restaurants each night, dressed in Viva's beautiful sarongs and decked out in our fabulous jewellery. Maybe you've seen them when you've been here? Combine that with our sidewalk sale (on again tomorrow), and it was another busy day in the store. Mary Sue asked me to look at a blurb they were using for advertising and I made a few changes to the wording. She liked it so much, she asked me to help her to write her weekly article for the Tribune. So add that to all my other duties at the store plus my busy social life and you'll probably won't get an email from me until sometime in April 2005! LOL

I'll just keep blogging away if that OK with you ... Tonight I went to a party with some friends at a beautiful condo north of Gringo Gulch up near Ay Carrumba Steak House. The hills were so steep, my friend Patricia got vertigo during the taxi ride up there. Finally we arrived at Patrick and Ron's place. Naturally, they live in the Penthouse and the place is immaculately decorated. What is it about gay men that gives them such a great sense of style? I had to laugh as Ron told us about a couple of their friends who were having their place decorated by a "straight guy". He was sure they were going to have to "tweak" the place when the decorator was through. If their home is any indication of their talents, their friends could do a lot worse.

Anyway, the evening was very enjoyable and I met a ton of new people. The food was incredible and the view of the sunset was spectacular. Unfortunately, I ate something that did not agree with me so I had to come home from the party a little bit earlier than planned. I'm not sure really what it was but I am feeling better now that I am at home. Plus, I'm tired. I wonder why? So I will sign off now and crawl into bed for, hopefully, a good night's sleep. I have a brunch date at 10:30AM, followed by plans for a relaxing day on Los Muertos beach, one block from my house. I hope you are spending your Sunday doing something special. Hasta luego!

Sleepless in Vallarta - Take II

It's 3AM and I'm awake. Something weird happened tonight as I was lying in bed. I felt something grab my hand and bite it, playfully. And before you ask, YES I was sleeping alone. Then I felt something grab my hair on the pillow, sort of playfully, like a kitten would. Except I don't have a cat! So I jumped up, turned on the light and grabbed my flashlight to look under the bed and behind the headboard. Nothing there ... so it must have been a weird dream but I can't sleep now. Go figure!

I went to bed at 8:30PM tonight. I've been doing that a lot lately (on the nights when I'm not out, tearing up the town!) but I usually only need about 7 hours sleep so I'm usually awake by 4AM. It's quiet this time of night, especially on a Sunday. No dogs, no cats, no birds, no burros, no roosters, no music, no cars, no NOTHING! Last night (Saturday), I heard music blasting until 7AM. No wonder I'm tired! OH! I spoke too soon! Just heard a dog barking ...

I went to Punta de Mita today with one of the women I work with and some of her friends. As you know, Sunday is the only day estoy descansa (I'm not working) so I like to get out of town and do something different. I must say that I do not care for this beach at all. It is too rocky! The rocks extend far out into the ocean so I had to wear my sports sandals into the water and I'm not sure how they are going to stand up to all that salt water. I was going to say that the only redeeming quality of this beach is the fact that the water remains shallow far out into the ocean but then I realized that this doesn't allow you to really swim because the water isn't deep enough.

Anyway, it was a nice day, spent with friends but I won't be going back there any time soon. Next beach on my hit list is Destiladeras! :)

The Goddesses

The Goddesses were "founded" in April 2001 as a result of an innocuous comment made by my friend Rose during our "girls only" trip to PV. Rose, Heidi, Louise and I had rented a two bedroom condo in Puerto Vallarta for 9 days. We were all remarking on how fast our nails and hair were growing and how soft our skin felt. She said, "I feel like a Goddess!" and the idea was formed. She also came up with "The Goddess Convention" as the title for this annual event (we decided after that initial trip that we would try to come to PV once a year). We had so much fun, we hoped to include other women and started spreading the word.

The second convention in 2002 was bigger and included my friend Winnie, her two sisters and her two daughters. Rose and I were also there, along with two new friends, Beatrice and Mary Ann. We held the event at Casa Andrea and invited other women, including Andrea, to join in the fun. And it was a lot of fun! Rose bought cheap, plastic, dimestore tiaras and we wore these around town during Goddess-related events and just for a laugh! Mary Ann brought some boas with her and we drapped them across our shoulders to add a bit of glamour. People started noticing how much fun we were having and started asking questions. I noticed that other women seemed particularly interested ...

In the intervening year, I developed a small website with the help of a Canadian Goddess I met online and wrote a campy "Goddess Handbook". It was mostly tongue in cheek but the main theme that ran through it was that Goddesses were superlative women -- strong, independent, funny, interesting, intelligent and knew how to have a good time. The tiara became our main focal point and I had beautiful Swarovski crystal GODDESS pins handmade for the core group plus a few other women who had attended GCII.

The third convention was smaller and consisted of only Rose, Heidi, Beatrice and Mary Ann. I was already living here so their visit was extra special because I missed them all so much. We had dinner out at a friend's restaurant, wearing our tiaras and boas, and caused quite a commotion, especially among the female patrons. They all wanted to know what they had to do to "join" the group! We felt special; we felt silly; we felt powerful -- heck, we felt like Goddesses! LOL

GCIV is scheduled for the first two weeks of April 2005. At that time, it will have been a year since I've seen Mary Ann but she is constantly in my thoughts. In fact, every time I open my lingerie drawer and see the "boa bra" she bought for me, I giggle! Beatrice was just here for a week but it was a very relaxing trip for her without any of the usual Goddess silliness. I miss her already! And I miss Heidi and Rose every single day I'm here ... we send emails or call and, on some level, that does help minimize how much I miss them. But it's not the same as breathing the same air as them. April 2005 will be a special month for me because I'll have all "my girls" back in the fold.

The Rent Is Due Tomorrow!

I guess I will find out how good the Mexican banking system is going to work for me when I go to withdraw money from my new account for the very first time. First I need to find out how much is in there and I tried to register for online banking but apparently, I don't have a chequing account with eleven digits so I can't. :( My rent is due tomorrow so hopefully, there is enough in there to cover it!

My weekend was spent recovering from my last week of excess -- I was out every night for dinner and didn't really spend much time at home except to sleep and change clothes. I managed to get to the gym three times last week so I hope I don't see any extra pounds creeping back on. I'll let you know after I try to squeeze into my uniform tomorrow morning! It felt good to have an evening to myself on Friday night.

On Saturday, I only worked from 10AM to 3:30PM and then headed over to the gym. It actually rained yesterday AND today ... very strange. The mosquitoes are back out in full force but the air is definitely cooler. I met my friends Dave and Nancy at Langostino's on Saturday night with another couple, Ned and Cindy. They are all staying at Casa Andrea for two weeks. My friend Cliff is here with his Mexican girlfriend, Leticia, whose English is improving faster than his Spanish! We all had drinks and dinner together ... what fun!

Today, a bunch of us went to the beach at Conchas Chinas since it is closer to town. The boys wanted to cut our weekly excursion short so they could go to Steve's Bar at 3PM and watch the CFL semi-finals. The beach was crowded with Mexican families and even some people we knew. The water was definitely cooler -- a welcome relief to this Canadian Goddess! I came home and did laundry. LOL It's been a quiet night and I am ready for another work week starting tomorrow. More friends are arriving this coming weekend and I need to rest up for that!

Remember to tell the important people in your life how much you love them. You never know what tomorrow will bring ...

Social Butterfly

I know, I know ... I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been busy with guests: my friend Lauri from Ontario, my "brother" Mikey from Alberta, my best friend (ie. known her FOREVER and she knows where all the bodies are buried -- LOL) Jo-Anne from Ontario and my friends Linda and Denny from Kansas City. Plus I've been working six days a week. *sigh* I am tired already and it's ONLY NOVEMBER!!!

Last Friday night was Mikey's last night in town and he wanted to go to Oktoberfest at Cafe Frankfurt. This is an annual event where the owner, Mike Pohl, puts on a huge buffet, all you can eat and drink (think cold Corona beer on tap) for 180 pesos. The food is German and very, very good. This outdoor restaurant is beautifully decorated with palm trees wrapped in lights and very condusive to good digestion. The amount food was staggering and consisted of home baked bread, salads of all kinds, roasted potatoes, spaetzel (did I spell that right?), ribs, chicken, ribs, beef, pork, schnitzel, dessert, etc.

At the end of dinner, Mike invariably provides you with a shot of "black poison". My friend Vera (travelling with Jo-Anne) asked me again what "that drink was called" and I told her, "black poison". I don't think she really believed me until we literally bumped into Mike on the street last night and got the same answer from him! :) A word of caution: whatever you do, DON'T TRY THE LIME POISON!!!

On Saturday night, my boss gave me four free passes to the opening night of the Puerto Vallarta Film Festival. The presentation was a film entitled "Around The Bend" starring Michael Caine and Christopher Walken. Very good film. You know you live in a small town when you know half the people in the movie theatre. LOL

On Sunday, we decided on a day trip to Sayulita. My friend Gerry offered to escort Jo-Anne, Vera and me for the day and volunteered to drive us. What a sweetheart! We arrived at this small fishing community around 11Am and left 5 hours later. It was a glorious sunny day with a strong breeze. Not enough to make any big waves for the surfers but enough to keep us cool and comfortable for most of the afternoon. We had drinks, ordered lunch, the girls bought stuff from the vendors and frolicked in the ocean.

Gerry & I took a long walk down the beach and discovered a charming little boutique hotel called Casablanca (www.casablancasayulita.com.mx). We walked in and it was practically empty. We made our way to the front desk and asked to see a room. All the rooms are actually suites with fully equipped kitchens and air conditioned bedrooms. The hotel is immaculate and decorated in cool tones of white and blue. Very, very secluded and romantic. What a wonderful spot for a weekend getaway!

On Monday, back at work sporting my new sunburn, I stopped marking merchandise at 4PM so that I could transform myself, along with four of my fellow workmates, into VIVA Divas for a fashion show up at Casa Isabel. We donned brightly coloured pareos, Riviera hats and gobs of jewellery for our appearance at Isabel's annual "girls only" week. We were so happy to be invited up to parade all the new goodies we have for the coming season at VIVA. The show was a huge success and the ladies proved their fashion saavy by asking all the right questions about our attire. We were each treated to a pina colada for our "hard work" and posed for a photo with our charming hostess.

Back at the store, I quickly changed back into my uniform and headed home to get ready for Jo-Anne's 40th birthday party at Cafe de Olla. She said she wanted shrimp and Fermin had promised to serve up some huge prawns for her. I invited along my friends Linda and Denny, plus their travelling companions, Fred and Jayne. Jo-Anne's friend Vera and their new friend, Peter, rounded out our table at eight.

Dinner as always, was delicious. The margaritas were strictly off limits for me since I had to work the next day but everyone else was on vacation so ... we barely had room on the table for the food when it finally arrived. Jo and Vera had the shrimp, Linda and Fred had the ribs, Jayne the enchiladas, Denny had sopes, I had filet mignon and Peter had "shrimp and bananas". At least that is what he thought he was getting when, in fact, Fermin had said "shrimp empanadas" and Peter misunderstood. But he enjoyed it anyway, even without the bananas. LOL

After being serenaded by a couple of different strolling musicians, I gave Fermin the nod and they brought out the Birthday Girl's "surprise". It was an "anatomically correct" choco banana! They turned out the lights and blindfolded Jo-Anne before "feeding" it to her. She's a great sport and played along. We took a lot of photos so I hope some of them turn out. She had this crazy grin on her face and stuff was dripping off her chin ... you had to be there! Haha! It was a very "sexy" dessert -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink!

We agreed to meet Linda and Denny for a night cap at La Palapa so Jo-Anne and I walked back to her hotel to drop off her roses. At that precise moment, a burro came galloping down Calle Pulpito right in front of her hotel! This wasn't the tranquilized burro the drunken tourists ride at Andale's -- this was a real, live burro!!! I've never seen anything like it and probably never will again. In fact, the last time I saw him, he was turning left onto Olas Altas. I still don't know what happened to him but he was running like the devil was after him. Or maybe he was just very, very happy to be free ...

Opening a Bank Account in Mexico

I haven't opened a new bank account in a long time. While I'm down here, I simply access my Scotiabank account via one of the three Scotiabank banking machines in town. I've never been charged a service fee but when VIVA deposited money into my Canadian account last spring via wire transfer after I returned to Canada, the cost was $20CDN -- per deposit! So when Ana Margarita told me that we were switching to direct deposit, she told me that I had to open a bank account. I will miss being handed that wad of cash twice a month ... LOL

I was allowed to go to the Bank during working hours. Good thing too since I work the same hours the Bank is open. It would be virtually impossible for me to go on my own time. I took the bus at 2PM and met with "Hector", the account manager at the Scotiabank Inverlat on Juarez. He speaks English. I was told to bring (1) my passport (2) my FM3 and (3) proof of domicilio. We checked and were told that my internet bill would suffice, even though it is in Colleen's name; just as long as it had our address on it and was currently dated.

When I got there, I had to wait a few minutes since I didn't have an appointment. But this was was fine since the Bank is air conditioned. BTW, the $CDN was trading at 9.24MXP today! :) In a little while, Hector invited me to sit down and asked me for "my papers". I handed everything over and he started to input information into the computer. It seemed very high tech and although his typing skills left a lot to be desired, he at least spelled my name right the first time (always a major hurdle in my life!).

Then he asked me for two references. I was stumped! Who do I know here who would vouch for my financial capabilies? Well my boss for one and since he already had all her information (the company banks with Scotiabank), that one was easy. But since my Palm died a couple of weeks ago, I don't have information on anyone so I eventually used my friends Larry and Sharon. Fox, if you're reading this, please answer the phone and be nice when the Bank calls about me! PLEASE ...

Then we got to the dreaded CosmoRed bill. Apparently it was acceptable to the Bank Manager (who coincidentally had the same last name as Hector's middle name -- a little nepotism perhaps???). Most Mexicans have two or more surnames; one from their mother's side of the family and from their father's side of the family. My guess is that Hector is the son of Fernando's sister. Anyway, Fernando said it was OK but when Hector tried to input the information, the computer wouldn't accept it.

So he called my office and asked them to fax him a phone bill from the store and they used that! Can you imagine doing this in any of the big banks in Canada or the U.S.? At this point, for some reason, he had to re-input (is that a word?) all my information again, including my "new" address of Basilio Badillo 274 (the address of the store). I know I work a lot of hours and sometimes I feel like I spend more time at work than I do at home but I am certainly not comfortable with that being my HOME ADDRESS!!! ;)

Then the whole system froze, no doubt as a result of the fraudulent information being fed into it by the nepotistic nephew Hector. He asked me to come back in 30 minutes so I could sign my application. Thirty minutes is a long time when you're on the clock at VIVA so we settled on 20 minutes and I came back in 15 minutes after wolfing down a Whopper con queso at Burger King. Everything was fine and I got to sign everything, in duplicate, many times. I haven't got a clue what I signed because it was all in Spanish.

Hector then took me up to Cashier Number 5 so I could obtain my ATM card. In this regard, the Bank in Mexico has it over the banks in Canada. I seem to remember having to wait for my ATM card to arrive by registered mail to ensure that the home address I supplied was indeed my domicile. Apparently no such safeguards exist in Mexico! Good thing too because mail delivery is virtually non-existent here within the city. I'll receive mail from another country without incident but the phone bill from TelMex will never reach my door!

At this point I was asked if I wanted to make a $2,000 peso deposit. "Uh, I don't think so!" I explained that I don't usually walk around with that kind of cash on me. Hector shrugged his shoulders and instructed the cashier to proceed. I signed two more times and was handed an information package (all in Spanish) and a secret PIN code along with my new ATM card. Hector then advised me to IMMEDIATELY change my PIN code at the banking machine outside the bank. Well I don't know about you, but I never knew you could do this!

Hector The Gallant, took me outside and showed me how to change my PIN code at the ATM. He even turned his head as I was punching in my new four digit code. What a guy! With that last transaction, I shook his hand and was on my way back to the store, a scant 90 minutes later. I will keep you apprised of my attempts to withdraw cash on the 15th of the month as well as the cost of each transaction. I think if I have a minimum balance of $2,000 pesos, I will not be charged any fees. My next feat: online banking in Spanish!!! Watch this site for details. LOL

It's A Small World After All ...

Work was crazy today! We had two ships in PV and I think everyone on board came to our store. The people I met were so nice and had great things to say about VIVA! I finally got my "lunch" break at 3:30PM and headed down the street to Steve's Bar. Steve is from Vancouver and has an air conditioned bar with good food. He makes excellent french fries so on a hectic day, nothing satisfies me more than a club sandwich, fries and a diet Pepsi.

When I returned to the store 20 minutes later, I walked by a woman in the tunnel who looked familiar but I couldn't remember how I knew her. BTW, the tunnel is the long hallway leading into the store with lit glass window cases on both sides, showcasing different designers of jewellery. I zipped into the washroom and when I came out, I walked right into her! She looked at me and I looked at her and she said, "Hello! I know you from Toronto. You go to my gym." Her name is Helen and she is in Puerto Vallarta for a friend's wedding. First time in PV. We live within six blocks of each other in Toronto which is the largest city in Canada. Neat eh?