Graffiti and Geckos

So it is another lazy Sunday at Estrella del Mar. I am on book #3 and still loving every minute of my peaceful slumber. Jamie and Ives headed back into town last night and left me here to soak up a little more sun by the pool. Since my last post there have been a few developments on my life here in Mexico as I am getting a little more settled. I am debating taking private Spanish lessons instead of taking some classes as I had previously considered. I think I will be able to teach myself more and hopefully take in a lot more rather than being bombarded with Spanish vocabulary and grammer.

After doing some more apartment searching last Tuesday, Jamie and I found a room in house right around the corner from her and Ives. The place dosen’t have nearly as much character as the other (unless you consider gaudy religious art, ‘70s Mexican furniture and a mirror plated bar character-like) but is much more functional for my purposes here. My new land-lady seems a little crazy. She chatters away to me in Spanish not realizing I don’t understand a word she is saying and then says “entiendo?” (the only word I do understand) to which I shake my head no. The first night in my new room I was convinced there was an invisible bird living in my room that kept ‘clucking’. I even had dreams about it while I was sleeping. Since then I have been informed the ‘clucking’ I heard was actually caused by geckos. Those little creatures make a huge sound!

I had my first ‘babysitting’ experience with Matteo on Wednesday when Jamie and Ives were called into work. He was so good! Such a great little guy he is! He dosen’t seem to like McDonalds via Jamie’s chi-chi’s though. I also had a chance to meet Ives’ family and see the house he grew up in this week. His mom is really sweet and his brothers and sister are so nice and cute, I just wish I could talk to them rather than just smiling a lot. Whenever I do attempt to say something in Spanish, they don’t understand me. It is very discouraging.

Being submersed into a different culture, it is really funny the things you notice. The other day I passed a grocery store that had a sign about 40-50 feet in the air which had something spray-painted under the store name. It really made me wonder why someone would want to climb that far up to do such a stupid thing! In Toronto, the spray painted images are often artistic, but not here. Most of the graffiti consist of black squiggles that don’t even say anything most of the time. Very weird. I guess it is just another one of those ‘Mexican’ things that just don’t make sense. Kind of like the phone system here.

This week I am hoping to find a Spanish tutor and figure out the bus system in Mazatlan so I can see a little more of the city. I am starting to feel a little more comfortable in the city and a little more independent from the translation services of Jamie or Ives. It was so good to hear back from so many of you, so please keep me posted as to what is happening back home. Until then I will be having fun with my new hobbies – poping beached jellyfish (more fun than bubble wrap), playing with baby turtles while chasing iguanas and crabs.