A Move - of the Blog

You can find me now at …http://grafter.typepad.com/ryandwayne

See ya there!

 

It’s a GIRL!

The time has arrived and our new family member is here. Mali, a beautiful mutt with a honey coat, is now living with us. While she isn’t potty trained (damn, that is a lot of work) - she has already stopped the puppy nipping. Here’s a picture of her when we first met three weeks ago.

Needless to say, as a first time dog owner (since being a child) - there is a level of stress for your dogs well being that is always present. She is very very thin, and our understanding is that she was born from a street dog. So she has had a few bacterias already in her short three month life. She doesn’t seem to be eating the dog food we are giving her (purina puppy food) and I hope that we can increase her health. She probably weight 8 or 9 lbs right now. She is a sweetheart, and we are glad to have her now.

 

my first time at la playa

A few times this weekend, I looked around and couldn’t believe where I was. How did I end up in the tropics? Living here?

On Saturday, Chema and I took a trip to the beach. Specifically Telchac Puerto, a small beach community around an hour from Merida. We were there visiting friends of Chema from his days at Universidad Marista, to say goodbye to Simon and Linabel - two newlyweds moving to London for Linabel’s PhD studies and eventually to New Zealand, Simon’s homeland.  The party was laid back and fun, with plenty of beer and ceviche (seafood marinated in limejuice with lots of onions, cilantro and tomatoes).

The weather went from sunny, to cloudy, rainy, windy and back to some sun.  I played (and lost) volleyball, took a walk on the beach - but didn’t end up swimming!  Drank too much beer, ate too much good food - and stood out by not speaking enough spanish.  Here are a few pics to capture my experience.

 

MY Time

I seem to have mucho tiempo here at home. I am getting together vocab lists for spanish words, searching the net (primarily reviewing old posts on lifehacker.com - an awesome resource for software, DIY, and project ideas).
During this time, I’ve started to contemplate how I can earn a modest income while working at home and in Mexico. I don’t have many high tech skills, besides being able to move around the computer easily - including finding information/resources online. Hopefully I can find a way to turn this into some small projects.

In the mean time I am attending a party this weekend and hopefully make some connections to work in community development locally - especially using permaculture design to integrate systems to create a more sustainable Merida. Chema and I have had some discussions on creating an organization or consulting firm focused primarily on this, sort of a “Sustainable Merida” that does indicator work. We’ll see where this all leads us.

For a primer of permaculture check out this pdf: http://www.holmgren.com.au/DLFiles/PDFs/EssenceofPC3.pdf

In Spanish: http://www.holmgren.com.au/DLFiles/PDFs/Esencia_PC_Espanol_eBook.pdf.pdf

 

a weekend passes by

Today was a very quiet Monday. I woke up at 8am and started my ‘online’ learning. Since I can’t afford most spanish courses here in Merida, I’ve decided to self-teach and by the fall enroll in a local univeristy offering Spanish courses for $2,000 MN (around $190USD) for a quarter of classes (9 hours a week for 8 weeks).

That means my summer is going to require much at home time. Which is fine by me. While we have some fixing up to do (adding shelves in the kitchen, buying a little furniture, adapting the garden/yard) overall this is a very comfortable house. It is bright, but with little direct sunlight (which is good in the heat) with a clear breeze flowing and strong fans in the two bedrooms and comfortable dimensions. Sunday morning the local cable company (Cablemas) came by and setup the cable and internet. Today, I connected our wireless network. If it weren’t so hot in the front rooms, I’d be up there on my laptop, but in the heat I’m close to the fans we have.

Here are a few pictures of the house…

 

My First Friday

Coming to Yucatan

I’m safely in Merida after a long day on Wednesday. The flight from Seattle was stuck on the runway for two hours while we waited for a computer problem that was affecting the entire United fleet (international even).  We finally got in the air and I made it with time to make my connection (which was delayed more then 30 minutes)…and landed in Mexico City a little late.  The connection there was CRAZY!  We went through immigration, but not customs…and there really wasn’t a way of tracking us…so it seems like I could have slipped through…but I guess there were a few checkpoints they would have caught it. Customs didn’t happen until landing at my final destination.

I almost didn’t make it on the connection to Merida.  Somehow I was on standby…and this is when I learned my first lesson.  Lines are not for the faint of heart in Mexico.  I happened to get there early and check in…but minutes later there were hundreds of people milling around the area…for three flights…all walking up and getting checked in by having their tickets torn.  Not as orderly as in the US.  The plane was full, but luckily I made it on.  We arrived at 1130!  The last 45 minutes were killer…I was very ready to be done traveling.

I was tired…so we came home and pretty much went to bed.  Yesterday…I spent the whole day sleeping.  It is very very warm and humid here.  I walked around the new neighborhood and found that there are MANY restaurants…gyms, and other types of places.  It’s a pretty nice neighborhood.  And a bus ride to downtown is only 15 mins.  Then back home to sleep. Chema had to work until 6pm and I was surprised to still be sleeping when he got home!

He was tired from a 12 hour day so we relaxed and then went out and had a late dinner with his friend Rodrigo, who is going through some problems at work - a public university - where some of the teachers are trying to form a union.  I woke up this morning, took a shower and came downtown to find an internet connection.  After a short breakfast and then a walk in the heat (!)  I’m in a cool trendy coffee shop with air conditioning and VH1 playing on the tv.  A strong internet connection as well.

So the first step is to start learning - both Spanish and the culture.  Since I missed the reasonably priced Spanish course for the summer, I may try intensive at home learning and practicing with Chema and his family/friends.  I’ll probably use the free system through the King County library system until I decide which other system to buy.

So I’m here. And adjusting/exploring my new life.  It is good to be here, though at a minimum I have a lot of adjusting to the climate to do.  With no air conditioning…it is very hot.  Our house is nice though.  Small and fairly cool with lots of open windows. We have a backyard that is in need of HELP…but could be a nice growing area when done.

I’ll post more later, including some photos.  Hopefully I’ll have internet at the house soon.

 

Trip to Merida…

This is my fourth time to visit Merida, and the most relaxing comfortable.  I´m finally becoming accustomed to the difference in cultures and have begun to revel in the newness.  I even stopped noticing the constant speed bumps that mark the city.    With a big move coming in September, I have 5 months to get my life ready in Seattle and be prepared for a final move here. 

 My last  day in Seattle was beautiful and warm. I got some use in my new camera by taking shots from the 39th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower where I´m working for the City of Seattle.  The beautiful Smith Tower is below me. Once the tallest building West of the Mississippi, I sit on a daily basis above it´s Chinese Ballroom. 

Working with the City as a temp has been a pretty good experience.  My hope is that I can temp when I need to come back to Seattle, or run out of money in Merida. Of course a job in Merida is preferred, but for that I must learn spanish…

This trip is my first time going alone - not having Chema there to pick me up from the airport.  Since I fly into Cancun for cheaper prices (and more options of flights) I have to take a bus or drive 4 hours across the penninsula to reach Merida.  I had hoped to rent a car (pretty good prices for a week rental - about $80) but the added insurace costs made this not feasible.  Instead I took a bus with minimal problems.  It´s amazing I made it since I was at the Airport trying to get to the bus terminal in downtown Cancun and kept saying to the bus drivers ‘aeropuerto´ when what I meant was ´bus terminal´.  I was sitting at the airport asking to be taken to the airport.  OOPS.  I showed them my ticket and they figured out what I was wanting.  Guess I´d better get on those spanish classes and quick.  Despite my problems, it is pretty easy and cheap to catch a bus from Cancun to Merida.  The buses are clean, quiet and fast and cost around $228 pesos (or $21USD) plus a $35 peso shuttle to the bus terminal. 

  

 The bus ride was decent, half of it was spent with no nextdoor neighbors.  I slept a little, read a little and tried to watch a Korean movie with spanish subtitles.  Eventually the sun began to get lower in the sky and I saw an amazing sunset.  The sun was a perfect circle of orange glowing neon.  I can understand why indigenous cultures would have a sungod with Suns like that.  It seemed like it was going to burn out of the sky. 

I was glad to reach Merida with 16 hours of traveling under my belt.  Hopefully I can find faster ways to get there with more practice.