Saying goodbye to Marilyn.
After the meeting, a group of us went out for tacos.
This is Daisy and her little brother from one of the Spanish congregations here. They have been attending some of the english meetings. She speaks very little english but is trying to learn more.
Jasmine and Marilyn ventured out on their own the day before Marilyn left. They took the bus downtown and did some shopping and made it back just before dark. I doubt they stood out as tourists.
We saw this big kids party and pulled over to take a picture of this kid beating to death this piñata. Amazing how violent a kid will become to get some candy.
Jasmine took this picture of these multiracial chicks.
Chastity decided to have some fun with giving me a haircut. I look like I have some sort of sick disease.
This little man was staring out the window in the car in front of us. Carseats are pretty much unheard of here.
One our hike back we saw this parakeet perched in the trees.
Though we had the beach all to ourselves, there was a HUGE house up on the hill overlooking the beach.
Marilyn was the first to drop her backpack and plop down in the sand.
Once we got to this first beach which was about 30 minutes into the hike we decided to go no farther. One because we had been hiking in wet clothes after crossing the river in the beginning, two because we only had about 2 hours of sunlight left, and three because, well, this was such a beautiful beach with absolutely no one else there.
The next few photos are simply of the hike.
Last Friday Chastity and I along with Marilyn and Jasmine decided to go on a hike that I had read about online. It was a 2.5 hour mountain hike that somewhat follows the beach and along the way there are secluded beaches. Here we are starting out and the first thing you have to do is cross a river.
Our friends Ken and Vaneda Daniels from Chicago, IL. They now live here permanently in Puerto Vallarta.
So Thursday night we invited Todd and Amy over for our family worship night and so I brought in one of our plastic patio chairs to sit on. Right in the middle of the study while I was leaning back a little in the chair....POP!!....and I go down after one of the back legs broke off the chair. Fortunately I wasn't hurt, I just provided everyone a good laugh.
Another curious dog we saw while out in the ministry. This one got a dog bone from Marilyn.
A.........in Mexico.
Our service group on Tuesday, we had a total of 20! Though you can't see Jasmine, she's hiding behind sister Dolo, next to Marilyn in the back.
Some people prefer a pillowtop Serta or a Therapedic mattress, Marilyn prefers a hard, sun warmed, Mexican tile floor.
I found this great spot right off the beach in Mismaloya to snorkel. In the background you can see Los Arcos where you have to pay for a boat ride to for snorkeling. This spot is free and I think you see even more varieties of fish.
Marilyn is jumping for excitement to go snorkeling.
On Monday we went to Mismaloya beach and yes, Marilyn is once again covering herself with sand.
This our favorite Beetle here in PV, we see it most everyday.
I couldn't remember if I had posted any pictures of these trees but they are in bloom and are EVERYWHERE and so beautiful.
Marilyn decided that a visit to Mexico wasn't complete with parasailing over the ocean for a better view.
While the rest of us are trying to behave ourselves in front of this all-inclusive resort, Marilyn explains how good the warm sand feels and rolls around in it and then just lies there resting. Oh Marilyn.
I've never had my shoes professionally polished before in my life, who knew it could be sooooo relaxing!!! I almost fell asleep, meanwhile Marilyn began witnessing to one of the workers.
I think this man is on to something, high reach dusters and back braces......you just never know how much you might stretch those back muscles when trying to reach that cobweb on the ceiling.
Wednesday we dropped Megan off at the airport. She was so sad to leave that she cried.....oops....sorry Megan.
Poor Megan got booted to the back again. Though it doesn't look like she's deprived at all back there.
On Tuesday both Marilyn and Jasmine arrived. After we picked them up at the airport we took them to one of our favorite taco places which now happens to sell crepes too....Marilyn chose a crepe and while ordering she started talking to this man. Happens to be that he is from Westford, Vermont down here in Mexico for a few months too. Small world.
More goofing off........then Chaz decided to try hanging and her hands slid off the rough wood and she got multiple splinters in both hands....OUCH!!
Just goofing off
We decided to visit some of the art galleries downtown and found this sculptor working on one of his pieces.
The girls enjoying a coffee break from their strenuous shopping.
Xaime Ximenez, a relatively famous mouth painter here in Puerto Vallarta. He has a master's degree in Law but instead decided to pursue his love of art by learning to paint with his mouth since his hands and arms are underdeveloped due to neurological spine damage he suffered at birth. He also drives, writes using his hands, mouth and feet and even swims. His paintings are amazing especially considering his disability.
Pinocchio and Chastity just hanging out on the malecon.
One of the locals hand carves and paints these cool puppets and sells them down on the malecon. Pretty talented!
Megan was fascinated by this guy. He's covered in sand and stands like a statue unless you give a tip and then he will move. I think I've figured out my next career move!
Hungry Pelican....come on, that's a pretty awesome shot!
The day before Megan left we went out for breakfast and she made the comment that she just really wanted to see a whale before she left. As we parked the car in the parking garage downtown I took a glance out into the ocean and what do you know......a whale! You can see the water spraying up from it's blowhole.
This little guy was curious when he saw us preaching in his area.
This tree is really cool! Not only is it huge but it has roots growing from the limbs down to the ground all over it!
I was impressed with these two little girls. They were diligently helping their mother put away all their items for sell at their market stand. The owners have to do this EVERY day, put out all their stock in the morning and then pack and put it ALL away in the evening!
One of the beautiful flowers on these trees that have bloomed within the last month. We are starting to see more flowers but still no rain!
I personally would prefer a Serta mattress.
We were at this tile shop and upstairs they had several workstations, notice the magazine on the left.
We found this great Cuban restaurant that actually reminded us a lot of Costa Rican food. Chicken, rice, black beans and fried sweet plantains!
This is the traditional way that the pork is cooked at the taco stands here in Mexico. They slice the pork off, cook it a little longer on the grill and then serve it up. So good!
After Bucerias we traveled on to Sayulito, a popular surf town. The girls couldn't resist this young girls handmade stuffed animals.
Saw this awesome beetle in Bucerias while looking for one of Megan Mc's calls. Not sure what year it was but it was in perfect condition. Interestingly, VW made the old style beetles like this one all the way up until 2004!
Megan and Megan in service Thursday
Interesting cluster of bugs we saw Wednesday while in service. It was our last day with our good friends Chaba and Angie. After dinner at the house, I dropped them off at the bus station at 8:00pm for their long 9 hours bus ride back.
With our friends the Rempels.
Zubis' head is a little small for hers.
Megan and Megan with their sombrero's.
At the restaurant we all went to Tuesday I saw this little boy in the corner covering his ears. He wasn't happy with the waiters and waitresses who were singing and banging pans for one of their customers who was celebrating his birthday.
Here is Megan Mc's bible student Jasmine with her little baby boy. She speaks english really well and lived in the states for a few years.
.....4 adults and 3 children!! Wow, that's amazing right!!? Oh but it got better....one more child came out and then as we drove by the car inside was 2 more adult women and another little girl!!!!! There were 11 people total in that beetle. Now I understand that at least back in the states people who owned these cars back in the day used to try to see how many they could fit into them, but I have a feeling these women weren't trying to play that game.
....3 adults and 3 children....yes it keeps going....
....3 adults and 2 children......then.....
Tuesday after the noon service group we had to run home to get Megan another pair of shoes since her other pair ripped. On the way there we saw this HILARIOUS scene. Right in front of our house is this really steep hill and this green beetle couldn't make it all the way up. We soon found out why. They reason why started with these 2 adults and one child........then......
This taco was a different story. It was goat meat! YUMMY! It was soooo good!
He tells the guy, "give us two of everything" since they only had about three different meats and he wanted us to try them out. Here's the first one, boiled pig skin! Chastity and I will try most anything, but this won out. We couldn't even bring ourselves to take a bite of it. Chaba was fine with that, it just meant he got to enjoy both of them.
So we stopped at this little taco stand a few blocks from the kingdom hall for lunch and Chaba did all the ordering since they didn't speak any english. Above is the rest of the story....
Love this picture. The young girl was happy to have her picture taken, her little brother was not.
This man was walking through the neighborhood in Ixtapa trying to sell these two comforters. They work so hard here, doing anything to make some money to provide for their family.
Corona preaching in Ixtapa.
Senor Taylor and Corona dressing like twins.
And they said the dodo bird was extinct.
