CHACALA 8 & 9 MARCH 2007

PHOTOS : Sunset at Mar De Jade & the kids making "yoga" music
These two days are spending by working with Angelica. We look at the refurbishment of the entrance hall, dining areas and bar. We walk the site and look at possible solutions. A whole afternoon on the weak points and finding solutions for them – poor Angelica – lots of work for her! The painters start painting and it looks really great (my contrast colour is a bit too light, but the rest really like it!). On Friday evening the men put on some dancing music and the kids absolutely love all the dancing – they do rock-and-roll, salsa and Luc teaches them the break dancing the village kids taught him! Do a motivational talk on Thursday evening to a small but very interested audience. Luc loves having all the kids around. He joins in the kids group (the parents are here for the yoga workshop). This time there is about 4 boys his age and they are in and out the pool, on the beach, running and playing all sorts of games. The lady who takes care of their programme compliments me on Luc’s really good behaviour and him being a real diplomat (don’t we just know that one – especially if his about to be punished!). We also get bumped up to a nice big room – not so sure I like the idea – really enjoyed the simple life! But Luc is ecstatic – his new room has a bathroom, and within minutes he is having a bath.

PUERTO VALLARTA 7 MARCH 2007

PHOTO : Puerto Vallarta

Today I make an effort to do something about my body that is so rapidly expanding. Supposed to meet Anastasia for gym, but she oversleeps. I manage to do 15 minutes of gym and then I just about died – high impact version of body for life with all the exercises at once! Thank goodness there was no one there to see my suffering!! Luc off to school. I spent the morning working – sorting out colours etc for our big shopping. In the afternoon we set off with Laura and the driver to Puerto Vallarta for the shopping. Got great paint colours, beautiful fabric and we are all set to go. Puerto Vallarta is the most beautiful town and are looking forward to staying there. Luc sees the pirate ship and a massive cruise ship – 3000 people! The town reminds me of towns in Spain with nice shops and cobblestone streets. It is dark when we finally leave. Laura stays behind – she is going to a friend for a week. Luis does not speak English, so I put my walkman and speakers on and we listen to Ill Divo (he understands the Spanish/Italian) and loves it. It is a scary 1 and ½ hour drive (in dark, lots of trucks, roads like Malawi). We are exhausted when we get home, but really enjoy the plate with pasta and prawn sosaties that await us! It was a very successful day and I cannot wait to get the guys going with the painting!

CHACALA 5 & 6 MARCH 2007

PHOTOS: Our hideaway on the bottom level at Mar de Jade. And a sneak photo of Luc.

School for Luc and work for me. I spent Monday working on the PR program. Luc is doing really well at school. Gets “moy bien” with all his homework and a blue star on the forehead every day! So proud of him. A new bunch of kids have arrived and Luc is very happy (he was missing his friend, Beckett, a lot). They play non-stop and on Monday night the two of us watch the movie, Zoolander. Running late on Tuesday and have to run to get to school on time. Morning I have meetings with Laura and Angelica, discussing PR programmes, paint colours for building etc etc. I also take some time working on the support group for women file. Luc went on a school “excursion” – they collected garbage off the streets. And he discovers the house of our Spanish teacher! More work in the afternoon, but take off later to swim with Luc in the sea. I finally discover the attraction – really great beach and surf – he is very happy to have his mother with him. (Think he is really missing Callie!). All the kids get crowns and Luc looks like a little prince – all dressed up! Have dinner with the girls and we end up staying up until late.

ONTDEKKING:
In die laaste 2 dae het 3 mense vir my kom vertel wat ‘n pragtige kind Luc is – mooi oe, selfversekerd, intelligent, baie persoonlikheid, leier – so trots op hom! (Maar moeilik as mens die enigste kind in ‘n familie is, dan moet jy maar entertainment gaan soek!). Hy is so mooi bruingebrand en die hare word al hoe ligter.

CHACALA 3 & 4 MARCH 2007

PHOTO : LUC THE PARTY ANIMAL - THE MORNING AFTER!!

We decide to take the weekend off and do fun things (to Luc that means swimming and swimming and more swimming). We have a Spanish class on Saturday morning – Luc really struggles to concentrate and Janet decides that I must go. This works and all of the sudden he is keen to learn. We spent the day on the beach, where we have a decadent pineapple filled with fruit. On Saturday night Bruno organises for a fire on the beach. I work on my book, whilst Luc goes off with the other Luke to sit next to the fire. We discover that one of the guests is the mother of the female star in Blood Diamond, Jennifer Connely. She talks about her time in SA shooting the film. (She also won an Oscar for Beautiful Mind). Of course I am so typical me and cannot remember her name when her mom asks if I have seen the movie!!! I decide to do some work on Sunday and work on the PR programme. Luc sits with me and we also work on his homework and a bit of the home schooling. The rest of the day we go to the beach. He got a tube yesterday and I cannot keep him out of the water. He is a real beach bum. Tanned with his long boxer shorts (which always falls off when he “surfs” and then you see this white little bum sticking out!). His hair is also going blond and the eyes are just getting more blue by the day. We had an exercise session planned for the afternoon, but then Laura had to go to town and Emily had to run after the new guests – so I end up having a chocolate and drinking a beer!

MOMENT OF THE DAY: I decide that I have to start learning how to deal with a Spanish menu and we went for drinks. Got mine right (Cerveza – beer), but poor Luc ended up with soda water instead of flavoured mineral water!

CHACALA 2 MARCH 2007

PHOTO : PARTY ANIMAL LUC WITH HIS SMOKING FRIEND!!!!

Off to “escuela” for Luc, whilst I spent the morning catching up with emails and working on the PR program. I pick Luc up from school and luckily the “collectivo” is there when we get to the town centre, so no hour wait this time. We are in Las Varas early and decide to have lunch at Anastasia’s friend’s little take away (we met him last week). Order tacos with chicken (up to now we have always had buffet at the resort, so never needed to order food!). We have a conversation in Spanish – and glad to say that we are beginning to understand some! From there to Laundromat for washing and then off to clinic. The kids are really happy to see us. Anastasia has made cards to divide them into the 4 groups we had painted on the walls – fuergo (fire), agua (water), le sol (sun) y la Luna (the moon). The kids are very excited about the groups. I end up with the girls in La Luna. Luc wants to be here, then decides to be with the boys and then, after not understanding their conversation, comes back to us. We give them tasks to create a song for their team. I get the girls going in my terrible Spanish. We set the pace with our spirited song, and I use all my old school cheer leading skills to keep my team going. It finally catches on and, with the help of Anastasia and 2 students the groups do stunning work! They are much more controlled – the plan is working! We do some games and then use the last 30 minutes to give them a brief background on the play – Themba and the lion (which I am not done with!). We leave the project a much happier crowd! Although Luc disappointed us with a few tantrums and even hitting a child! We meet Stdephan – a photographer who also works as a volunteer at a school, in the collectivo. He desperately needs camera cables, so I offer him mine – if it works. He tells us about the party in the village. It is the celebration of the “coming of age” of a young girls ( ). The word “party” gets Luc going and he decides that we will go. After dinner we chat with Anastasia (who is on bar duty), Rodolpho teaches Luc to salsa (did not last long, as Luc now prefers break dancing – the in thing in this part of the world), the yoga group has a birthday party and Dr Bruno’s group is dancing salsa. By 10 we are all dead tired, but Luc is wide awake and ready for the party. Two girls from the yoga group decides to go with us. I am a bit nervous to walk in the dark and Luc has 1 minute of terror attack, but the moon is full and it ends up being a really nice walk. Luc immediately recognises his school buddy (his sister’s party!) and is in 7th heaven. We are welcomed, each gets a sweet tequila drink and join the very slow (!) party. There is a big “wedding cake” and another big cake – Luc digs in. The main attraction is the karaoke singer! I ended up having an amazing conversation with Kris, who lives in Seattle and lost a friend who drowned in her basement. It is a real tragic story and one that makes one rethink life… We get home at midnight and Luc is so dirty (after rolling in the sand) that he has to take a shower.

MOMENT OF THE DAY : The complete discuss on Luc’s face when he told us that his 5 year old school friend was smoking! He immediately went on a crusade to find Anastasia to get her to tell him not to do it!

LAS VARAS 1 MARCH 2007

PHOTO : Church in Las Varas.

Today we discover real people goodness. Drop Luc at school and from there to Chacala main street (small dirt cobble road) to wait for the local “collective” to take me to town. Extremely frustrated with my poor knowledge of Spanish, but the shop owner understands me and tells me where to wait. I am joined by Mary and Alain from Tuscon, who has sailed down on their yacht. He is from France, but has live in the USA for a long time. It turns out to be a long wait, but their company is really great. They invite the two of us to come and visit them on the yacht! It takes me an hour and 15 minutes from dropping Luc off until I am in town. The paint shop is at the taxi stop, and thank goodness we manage to sort out the language barrier. (One of our first Spanish classes at home was “coloures”, so I know all the names of the colours!). It comes to more than R 700 and the shop does not take credit cards. I ask where the “banco” is and within minutes I am in the front of the shop owners pickup and we are on the way to the bank! He mixes the paint by hand and proudly tells me he has been doing it for 15 years! It takes 2 hours to get the order and then he offers to drop me at the centre! I run to get the taxi to be in time for Luc’s school coming out. From there we grab a taxi and back to Las Varas. Luc uses the opportunity (of missing lunch at the resort) to order all sorts of sweet stuff. Everything in Mexico has sugar in – from the fruit juice, to the dried fruit. Or chilli and salt (even on the fruit). I order some watermelon from a fruit seller (with a bicycle like an ice cream man). By this time Luc has developed an urgent need to go to the loo – always in the middle of a place where there is no loos or pace to do your thing! But his actions speak a universal language and an old man sitting in front of a shop calls the shop lady and the offer Luc the use of their toilet! We eventually get to the centre and start painting the murals. We are joined by one of the kids who come to the centre, Daniel. He works really hard. Later some of the students arrive, but they are slow and lazy! They leave us halfway, but 2 little girls join us. At first we have major language barriers and I misunderstand them, thinking they are Daniel’s sisters and here to pick him up. Then, half an hour later, I discover they also want to paint! We finish at 5 and we take Daniel for a snack and a “refresco”. A bit worried that we will not find a taxi back. But after half an hours wait, it arrives. We meet Tracy on the taxi – she is a volunteer at the primary school, and invites us to come and speak to the kids about Africa. We are exhausted at the end of the day and hit the bed early.

REFLECTION:
Now getting into real Mexican time – what would have taken me 30 minutes in SA to do, today took me about 3 hours. Will the people at home understand if I tell them that we will only be back in 9 months and not 3 as originally planned!

MOMENT OF THE DAY:
Our first car accident in Mexico. The taxi driver on the way home, drops 2 ladies and their babies at their home. And reverses into a pickup parked behind him. He gets out, looks at the pick up, gets back in the taxi and drives off. Everyone in the taxi (and the neighbour sitting on his veranda) is in hysterics – laughing – NO ROAD RAGE HERE!

CHACALA 28 FEBRUARY 2007

PHOTOS:

Luc doing homework in dining room. His school is on the opposite of the bay - seen in the background. Luc at his school.

The walk to the school and back x 2 a day is a good hour workout. I desperately need this, as we are eating way too much. Really stunning food. Fresh salads and fruit, chicken and fish – but then (oh, too much of it!) tortillas and beans!! Spend the morning working, then pick Luc up and more working. Luc once again does not listen, climbs in a tree and the branch breaks. This happens in front of everyone having lunch! Don’t know what was more hurt – his arm or his ego! After dinner a long chat with Angelica about their SA trip and all the SA politics. Must say – the SA politics (especially those of the SAPS we are working with) is beginning to get us all down!