From Viva Diva to Goddess in 24 Hours

I had one last "kick at the can" as a Viva Diva last week on Thursday. Jackie asked me to be in a style show out at Casa Velas at a luncheon for some golfers' wives and I agree to do it. Why not? I got to dress up, wear fabulous jewellery, hang out with the some of the prettiest women in Vallarta (the Viva Girls) for the afternoon AND get paid for it. First honest job I've had since October! Actually, it's the ONLY job I've had since October.

I've vowed to take the $500 pesos and buy a pair of shoes with it. Anyway, during my second change (we did three -- different colour pareos, hats and jewellery), I tied by pareo in an over the shoulder style that took about one minute to do. Apparently one of the women at the show loved my creation so much, she was in the store an hour later buying the exact same colour pareo so I guess I earned my money.

The first Goddess, Mary Ann, arrived from California the same day so we arranged to have drinks at CCs and then dinner at Machis BBQ. It was nice to have Mary Ann all to myself for an evening so we could get caught up before the other Goddesses arrived the next day.

I have tried to start packing for my departure but, everytime I put something in a box, I need it so I've kind of given up. I think it will only take me a couple of hours anyway so I suppose I will leave it to the last minute, like I do everything else. Its seems I've really taken this "mañana" mentality to heart after living here for over two years.

Fabulous Photo!

Thanks to my friend Darryl for sending me this photo. It was taken from his livingroom window in PV on March 23, 2006.

Leaving On A Jet Plane!

Well, it's officially official. I'm flying out on Good Friday, April 14th. I picked up my ticket voucher at Signature Vacations' office for $350US or $424CDN at yesterday's exchange rate. I'll be flying back on the same flight with the Goddesses.

For anyone who is interested, I bought a return ticket in July when I came back from Toronto. I just didn't use the return leg but the unused portion of my ticket has value for up to 12 months. I just had to pay the hefty change fee and fly when there is availabilty.

I've always been very lucky doing this but then, I usually fly in the low season. It's worked out quite well for me because I get to pick when I want to fly and all the flights are direct. If you would like any more information, please feel free to email me!

The Goddesses Are Coming ...

You might see us at Andales!



Or posing for photos!



We're very friendly!



Sometimes silly!



Always fabulous!














WE ARE GODDESSES!!!

From Bowling To Chocolates

The above title aptly describes my day yesterday. I left the house in the morning to meet friends at Fredy's Tucan for breakfast before bowling. I arrived early (of course) and found Ken at the bar, smoking a cigarette, reading a paperbook and drinking a screwdriver. Ken says he usually doesn't start drinking until 5 o'clock. That's when he wakes up, 5AM.

I told him, "We need a table for six."

"Six? What for?"

"Tom and Michelle are coming for breakfast, aren't they"?

Ken replied, "No, they never eat breakfast. They just meet us after breakfast and drive us up there".

Five minutes later Kathy arrived.

"Did you get us a table?" she asked Ken.

"No", he said.

At which point the two of them started squabbling about what he had been doing the whole time he was sitting there waiting for us, why didn't he get us a table, yadda yadda yadda. BTW, the squabbling continued for the rest of the day. *sigh* Anyway, at that moment I spied a table for four being vacated and said, "Let's sit there!" Kathy took one look and shook her head. "That's not the smoking section. Can't sit there." *sigh* (See my rant on smoking earlier this month.)

Then Colleen walked in, looking fresh and happy, still damp from her shower.

"Do we have a table yet?" she asked.

Kathy and I looked at each and then proceeded to glare at Ken, who merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "I told them I needed a table in 15 minutes".

Kathy ordered a coffee at the bar and poured in her usual morning pick-me-up, an ounce or two of Lara coffee liqueur.

Shortly thereafter, we were ushered into the garden area in the back to a table for six. The four of us sat down and were handed menus. Ken said, "I'm not eating" and proceeded to light up another cigarette. Kathy wanted to know why he wasn't eating. "Because I ate when I got up at 5AM and I'm not hungry." No doubt all that smoking had dulled his appetite.

"Well I'm starving!" declared Colleen while Kathy and I stated that we were hungry too. The waiter took our drink orders; coffee for me, water for Colleen and another screwdriver for Ken. After a while he took our food orders and as he went to grab the menus, Tom and Michelle walked in.

"Did you order yet?" Tom asked. "Just did!" we replied and the waiter hesitated, waiting for them to place their hurried orders. Ken and Kathy started squabbling again, everyone had something to drink, "toast" (actually slightly toasted french bread) was on the table. Now we were getting somewhere.

The food arrived at our table the same time Mike was wheeling Lynnda towards our table. Our table for six needed to be expanded for eight but with only one extra chair, since Lynnda brought her own. *wink* Upon eyeing my omelete, served with hash browns, Mike started ranting about how he never got enough potatoes and why did I get all those potatoes. I told him it was because I flirted with the staff and started batting my eyelashes at our server, Oscar, to prove my point. This also works on bus and taxi drivers.

Once finished, we all piled into vehicles and headed out to Collage. Bowling costs $20 pesos a game (we bowl three) and $10 pesos for shoe rentals. There is a lot of name calling, cursing and dancing going on during these three games, especially when there are a dozen or more of us playing on four lanes. It is a tremendous amount of fun for a very small price.

After three hours of bowling, everyone was incredibly thirsty so we headed back to Que?Pasa for drinks. Although the bar is currently closed, we were bowling with the owners so a "private party" was in the offing. I was having deja vu with Tom being there with me (remember my "Bowling and Blood" blog from October 2004?) but his wife managed to keep him off the bar and away from the ceiling fans. Kathy and Ken started playing a dice game. The squabbling increased in volume. Someone had left an unfinished puzzle on the table and since Tom and I are both Librans, we couldn't leave it alone. We had to finish it. Welcome to FREAKS 'R' US!

By now, it was close to 5PM and we were all getting hungry again. Tia Catrina was the natural choice since it is cheap, close and very, VERY good. They had just opened for the evening and we all ordered the Special; three shrimp cakes served with mango chutney sauce, ceasar salad and rice for $120 pesos. BTW, Erin, Hector and Tex (the owners) are now selling Tia Catrina tshirts for $100 pesos. As we were leaving the restaurant, Tex called me back in and gave me a free tshirt!

I was exhausted from my long, arduous day and headed home but felt I needed a little "something" and in my world, that means only one thing -- chocolate. I popped into Guadalajara Pharmacy and couldn't decide between a milk chocolate Hershey bar, a small bag of Hershey's kisses or chocolate M&M's so I bought all three!

Walking towards my place, I heard a small band playing in the street. It is not uncommon for a family or group of friends to form a band and walk the streets, playing for money. They were a ragtag groups of men playting trumpets, women banging drums and one boy, carrying a plastic cup and accepting donations. I stopped to allow an older lady to come out of her house with her change purse open. We both dropped $20 pesos into the boy's cup and were rewarded with smiles by the entire troupe.

And so ended another day in Vallarta ...

Watch Your Speed Ma'am!

A friend of mine was having tremendous difficulty with his internet provider here in Vallarta. He also has the same VOIP service as me so he was very frustrated at not being able to use his phone effectively. Someone told him about a website where you can check your speed. He did so and found out that he was running at the LOWEST speed (192 kbps) instead of the HIGHEST speed (512 kbps) even though he had been paying for the faster service all along. He finally contacted the President of the corporation and arranged to meet him at the local office and demanded they show him the speed. He was right; they were wrong. They offered him one month free and he's had no problems since. Anyway, if you want to check your own speed, pick the city closest to you at this website: Speedtest. And if you've still having problems, call your ISP ASAP!

I called yesterday to check on my speed and to complain about the crappy service on the weekend (pages loading slowly, unable to get online at all, the phone was going dead, etc.). Five minutes after I called to ask for help, I lost my internet entirely so my afternoon was spent wasting precious cell phone minutes on hold with CosmoRed. The situation was so bad, the tech, Ernesto, came by my house last night to check my modem. It was no coincidence that I lost my service five minutes after speaking to him and reiterated again this morning that I thought "the problem is at your end". Anyway, after much back and forth with him, he finally admitted he found the problem and it was not (1) my modem (2) the cable (3) my VOIP router and/or (4) the full moon.

INSERT ONE BIG FAT HEAVY SIGH HERE PLEASE!

Anyway, on to more delicious things ... Kathy, Colleen and I had our usual lunch on Monday but as we approached the cash register to pay, Hank told us that lunch was on him! We've been faithfully showing up there every Monday for months now and he rewarded us today with a free lunch. How about that for customer appreciation? I can't say enough about these guys (Hank and Conrad) and their wonderful restaurant. I will miss them so much when I leave here ... :(

I've been going to a lot of movies lately. Most recently, I've seen Syriana (too complicated with half the Arabic dialogue being translated into Spanish subtitles only); Rumour Has It (cute flick with Jenn Anniston and Mark Ruffalo -- Kevin Costner is a dud, as usual, and Shirley McLean's face is contorted from too much plastic surgery); Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (excellent chemistry between the two males leads, Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer) and Pride and Prejudice. P&P was a delight for the senses. Colleen and I came out of movie theatre swooning, believing in love, romance and men in knee high boots with tight britches.

Sneak Peak

I've created a new blog and was going to ask you for suggestions on what to call it but then I thought, "What the hell? I know the perfect name!"

Metro Goddess

Enjoy!

Sometimes Even I Make Sense!

This is something I posted on a dating website on a thread about woman over 40 and their dating insecurities.

I think the greatest gift I gave myself was permission to trust my own instincts. If something doesn't feel right, for whatever reason, I trust that feeling. If someone says or does something that makes me uncomfortable, I take that into consideration before deciding whether I want to continue with this person in my life -- whether they be a friend or a lover.

People can have all the confidence in the world in their job, raising their children, singing in the choir, but there is something about interpersonal relationships, especially those with the opposite sex, that makes us throw everything we know out the window. I think it is important NOT to do that.

I also believe that age has nothing to do with it. I've dated men 20 years younger and 30 years older. The only difference I've found is muscle tone! LOL You are the only person who can guard your heart. It is your most precious commodity. You need to REALLY know the person to whom you are giving it.

Never, EVER shortchange yourself and think that being in a relationship, ANY relationship, is better than being alone. I will take being alone over an inappropriate relationship any day of the week. And that is the kind of confidence you need to have if you're going to be successful in dating and finding someone to love.

One Month To Go!!!

I blew a fuse yesterday. No, I didn't get angry, I literally blew a fuse. I had the CD player on and when I turned on my blowdryer, the lights went out. Good thing it was the middle of the day! I went downstairs to talk to my neighbour Estelle since we share the electricity bill and she still had power so we walked down to the fuse box and I reached up to open it since she is too short. Inside were two fuses. One looked almost brand new. The other one had disintegrated so much you could hardly recognize it as a fuse. She really alarmed me when she reached in and started rooting around the box, trying to dig out the fuse.

Then she yelled down the hall to our other neighbour who arrived brandishing a HUGE butcher knife! Estelle started using the butcher knife to dig out the fuse. I kept backing further and further away from the box, expecting a big explosion! Finally, Estelle handed me the fuse, in two pieces, and explained that I needed to go to the hardware store to buy a new fuse. I was almost ready for my lunch with the girls and figured the stuff in the freezer would keep until I got back. As I was getting ready to leave, Estelle came to my door and said she would go to the store so I gave her some money and she went, bought the fuse, brought it back and inserted it. Bingo, bango, bongo ... the lights went on! I have very nice neighbours ... :)

My friend "P" (not using her real name in order to protect her identity) got stopped the other day by the police for running a red light. We often hear stories down here of the police stopping people with non-Mexican license plates for various unsubstantiated reasons and demanding money in exchange for letting them go. This is what we call a bribe, but in Mexico, it is called paying a "mordida". Anyway, the cop asks her for $500 pesos (over $50CDN). She knew she was in the wrong but she didn't have $500 pesos. She only had $100 pesos. He dropped the price to $200 pesos but when she showed him she only had $100 pesos, he took it. My friend is quite the bargainer ... I think I want to go shopping with her! *smile*

What else is going on? More of my friends have experienced thefts in their homes. The primary targets seem to be small expensive objects: laptops, gold jewellery, cameras, etc. While filing police reports, they have been told by the local constabulary that all these thefts are drug related. Drug addicts looking for quick money to support their nasty habit. Thank goodness no one has been hurt ... yet. And anyone out there reading this who thinks that drugs and crime in Mexico are not related, think again. And get your head out of your ass while you're at it. I am doubly thankful for our newly gated entrance and my ever vigilant neighbours!

Counting Down the Days to Departure

I just got off the phone with Signature Vacations here in Vallarta and they confirmed that there are over 150 seats left on the flight out of here on April 14 so it looks like we might have to rename the flight "Goddess Air"!

The Goddesses arrive three weeks from today and are staying for two weeks. I am hoping to fly back with them so they can help me with all my stuff. It looks like things might actually happen that way. I'm so friggin' excited!!!

DAD, CAN YOU PICK ME UP AT THE AIRPORT??? *GRIN*

What's YOUR Sign?

Tuesday, 7th March 2006 - LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Like a goldfish in a bowl or a knight in a suit of armour, is your relationship with the outside world a little peculiar? Are you stuck, trapped, insular? You may feel remote from something you would like to be more deeply involved with. But you are not absent, or powerless or helpless. Don't underestimate the extent of the influence you wield. Don't doubt the importance of the role you are playing. Don't worry about anything. You are better protected - and better connected - than you know.

People seem to think that I don't like Mexico any more! Nothing could be further from the truth. I just realize it is time to move on. I will definitely miss all of my wonderful friends here (you know who you are!) and the fabulous restaurants which have become my favourites over the years. I will also miss the gay bars. I have so much fun in them -- it should really be illegal! LOL And I'm sure next February, I will be missing the weather but hopefully I will be so busy planning my next trip, the winter months will fly by and I will be on my way to somewhere exotic. I simply cannot wait to start the next part of my journey ...

Another Monday Morning

The great thing about being on holidays is that Monday mornings don't strike terror into your heart like they do when you're working. You don't have that feeling of dread when you go to bed on Sunday nights and you can sleep in, which I did this morning. The most taxing thing on my schedule for today is getting to my lunch date with the girls at Chiles at 1PM. I'm usually late ...

Actually, now that I've lived here for over two years, I find myself being late for most things and I don't know why. I've always been a very punctual person. I guess the difference is now I priorize my punctuality. If I am late for lunch with the girls, they will just start without me. If I'm late for a beach date, my friends will still be there regardless of whether I show up or not.

But Monday mornings still have the ability to make me think about my week in advance and plan a few things to keep me going. So here is how my week is shaping up so far: Monday - lunch; Tuesday - beach; Wednesday - party at Viva; Thursday - lunch; Friday - beach again maybe; Saturday - quien sabes? (who knows?). As you can see, I lead a pretty exciting life.

Someone recently noted that I seemed to be burning some bridges down here and I'm wondering if maybe I am. Not consciously of course, but maybe more as a defence mechanism to avoid saying goodbye. You know, get people so pissed off at you that you don't have to actually go through the whole goodbye thing. I think they call it separation anxiety.

I don't feel particularly anxious though. I know I have a lot to do before I can leave. The thought of packing up 2+ years of life down here and somehow trying to move it back to Canada in bits and pieces seems daunting but I know I'll do it. That's what living down here has done for me, given me the confidence to know that whatever I attempt, I will be able accomplish it, in some form or another.

Anyway, I hope your Monday morning is a cheery one and if not, maybe this post will give you some food for thought. To all of my blog readers, have a wonderful day and a fabulous week. I promise to try to do something exciting so that I can blog at you again soon! :)

Violence In Vallarta

After the ghastly murders of two Canadians in Cancun, while on vacation for their daughter's wedding, I've decided to post a version of something I wrote last fall, after making my decision to return to live in Canada. Today, I sent this to the Toronto Star in response to their "Speak Out" section regarding those recent events:

After living in Vallarta for over two years now, I realize my feeling of safety here was an illusion. With the tremendous growth and the large amount of nationals moving here from other parts of Mexico, crime is on the increase. People MUST be aware of everything going on around them, especially women.

The language barrier and cultural differences make things even more dangerous. So, if there is a chance that I might become a victim of a violent crime, I would rather it happened in my own country. At least there, my support network is in place and the authorities speak the same language as me. And the police force is not more corrupt than the criminals they are trying to apprehend.