Sunday morning in my neighborhood

My blog still isn't working properly but I am going to keep on posting and hope it will be resolved before long. I have heard that other bloggers using blogspot here are also not able to see their blog online. And they also probably can't answer any comments.  

It is overcast this morning and very humid. I am going to go swimming for the first time in a couple of weeks. My knee is well now and I am going crazy just sitting around my apartment. I took a little walk do Salvador's yesterday with Chico. I was intending to have their Sunday brunch but it was too crowded. I can only eat outside with Chico and it was also a little cold. I took a few photos along the way and of Salvador's, inside and outside. I am taking my camera to the spa today and maybe I will remember to take some photos there. I apologize for not being able to answer any comments. I can answer if you write to my e mail address. Petwalker40@yahoo.com

This is the carretera. Lots of traffic on it, especially on weekends but I managed to get an open space.

The car wash man, waiting for customers. He totally ignores me because he knows I don't have a car. I finally stopped speaking to him too. It is no fun to be ignored and feel invisible.

There were no tables available outside so I didn't get to have their buffet. The little dog sitting in the chair was closely guarding his table from us. 

Inside Salvador's restaurant.  They are getting serenaded by a very good musician.  He works for tips. 

The buffet table is by those windows.

Morning Thoughts----my blog problems

Well I am still having problems with my blog. I appreciate getting messages that you can receive it. I can't figure out why I can't answer any comments. I have been told that they are getting posted. This morning I received a comment from Patty. She also has a blog on blogspot.com here and she said she had problems with it the past few days but now it works. But I just tried to access her blog, Grimstraveltales and I get the same message, SERVER CANNOT BE FOUND.  So, Patty if you are reading this post, yours still isn't working either.  Hopefully these problems with blogspot will be solved soon. In the meantime I will keep writing but I won't be able to answer any comments unless they are sent to me personally on Petwalker40@yahoo.com

I haven't been doing much for the past two weeks because I twisted my knee. I don't want to have knee problems again so I have just been sitting around wasting my time watching stupid netflix series. I have watched just about everything on there except for the chldren's programs. I even watch the ones in Spanish and read the subtitles, hoping I will learn Spanish that way. My memory is so bad these days that nothing sticks in my brain. So that too, is just wasting my life away. 

I am going to take a walk with Chico today no matter what. I hate just sitting around here all the time. When I was in my fifties I spent some time working in what they call Rest Homes. Those places are grim.  For sure, all the elderly people living there did was REST. Rest and watch television and then they had to go to their rooms at four in the afternoon. Most of them went to bed at that time. Their day was over. These past two weeks feel like I have been living in one of those places. Just eating and resting and watching things on netflix. I feel a bit nuts from it. 

 Strange thing about it is that the last time I was in one of those homes in Portland, visiting with a friend, I noticed that all the people living there were about my age.  What were they doing in that place????   It was scary to see that as a possible future for myself. I had better get out and walk today, no matter if my knee still hurts. I do not want to end up in one of those Rest Homes.....

I will take my camera with me today and maybe I can get something worthwhile to put on here. Today is Salvador's Sunday Brunch. The restaurant is packed, mostly with  people from Guadalajara, the motorcycle clubs, people dressed up from church, they love the buffet there. I might do that just to break the obsession I am on now with sushi.  Sorry I can't answer any comments sent to me on this site. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon. 

Morning Thoughts

Thank you readers for e mailing me about being able to read my blog. I also heard that the comments are being posted and people can read them too. I just can't access my blog online and see what is on it or see if the comments are posted or answer them on the blog. But if you write to me at to my e mail address: Petwalker40@yahoo.com I can answer. 

But I can still write on it and put on photos. I don't have any new photos since I twisted my knee a week ago while swimming. I have mostly been sitting around my house, not wanting to injure it more than it is already. Hoping it will be well by Monday so I can swim again. Sometimes I think that this humidity has something to do with my aches and pains. They are worse when it is humid. Some afternoons it clears up and is sunny and beautiful. And others, it never does. I don't like the rainy season down here. 

Lately I have been missing the United States. I guess I mostly just miss my son and daughter-in-law. I haven't seen them for a few years. Okay, I also miss the clean streets and the warm, dry, sunny summers. I miss a lot of things now that I haven't been back for so long. But now when I go up there I have cluture shock. As I wrote in a previous e mail, the Mexicans gather at the North American type Mall here while the Expats gather in the old Mexico style central Plaza in Ajijic. Maybe it is human nature to want what is different from what we have. 

I am sorry that I won't be able to answer any comments sent to my blog. If you e mail me, I can write back. I hope this problem will be fixed.   Thank you again for the feedback about it. 

Yesterday morning when I found out that the problem was going on with the blog, I saw it as a sign for me to give it up. But I decided to continue anyway. I spend a lot of time at home and only have a few friends. Sometimes in my dreams I have a lot of people around me. When I wake up from these dreams I feel that they are the readers of my blog. People in the distance. People who have been reading it for years and who care about me. I deeply appreciate it and so I will keep on writing this blog as long as I can. If one day I stop, it will be because it is gone completely from the internet.  

More messages

Thank you. I am getting messages from the United States but it still doesn't work here. I also can't see if the messages were posted or not and I can't answer them personally. Hopefully it will be fixed soon. P

Thank you for answers

I have received several answers from people in the United States and Canada and one from Mexico. But I cannot read the blog to see if they were posted . I also cannot answer anyone. Maybe it will clear up in a few days. Thank you so much. P

Blog problem

For some reason blogspot isn't working in Mexico. That is my conclusion after doing hours of testing and research. No one in Mexico can open it. It just says Server cannot be found. But my son in Kansas can get it. My friend in Canada can get it. I can't get it on my computer. The man at the computer store with a fancy big computer can't get it. Other friends in Mexico can't get it. So if you are receiving this post, and you have the time, please let me know. And tell me where you are located. Of course I may not be able to post any comments on it either. Like my friend Pat says, "If you don't like something in Mexico, Wait, it will change."

I am hoping this will change too. One friend in Mexico told me that he can get blogs using wordpress but not any blogs using blogspot. So from all this information, I have concluded that the problem is just in Mexico and just with Blogspot.... This may be my last post if that can't be fixed..... It was fun while it lasted. I will try to wait, as my friend says and hope that it will come back...... But I have never been a very patient person. 

Okuma Sushi in the Centro Laguna Mall

They deliver.

Okuma Sushi is across the street from Walmart and next door to Dr Candy's office. She is my dentist and I highly recommend her. On the other side is the electronic store, Steren.  

They have pretty good prices and about anything you need in electronics.

Inside of Okuma Sushi. On the opposite wall is a mural, which is partly shown in the next photo.

The waiter, bringing me the trimmings. I ordered the same thing I always order, California Roll. 

This is a fairly large place but only three other people were in it. The boy behind the waiter had ordered the sushi in the next photo. They didn't mind that I took pictures of their orders.

This was his order. Those yellow things are bananas. It is stuffed with Octopus... It looked good. He said it was delicious but I am not quite that adventurous. 

The one above was covered in Avocado. That looked good. 

Above is my California Roll with trimmings of hot peppers and small slices of green onion. This place is a little more expensive than Senor Sushi which is also closer to my house. It was good. I may try another sushi place soon. I went swimming yesterday and somehow hurt my knee. I can barely walk today. So I will stay home. A perfect day for making more sushi. It is overcast today. 

 I get focused on one food and will eat it for months until I can't stand the sight of it anymore. If my son is reading this, well, David you KNOW about how I do this. I remember when he was growing up and he was such a particular eater that when I finally found something he liked, chicken pot pie, I started cooking it for him every night. For a long time. Finally he told me that he liked it but not EVERY night......   But for now I can eat sushi EVERY night.....   Maybe it is the seaweed that my body craves.....

Sunday at the Laguna Centro Mall

Once again I was at the mall but this was a Sunday. What a difference. I was there most of the day, sitting around and visiting with a friend. Our movie had changed to some kid's movie and so we sat and talked in the food court. It was interesting for me to see how many people go there for the afternoon on Sundays. I have gone to the Ajijic Plaza on Sundays and it is also crowded but there seems to be more of a mix of Expats and Mexicans. At the mall yesterday I only saw a couple of other expats the entire time I was there. They didn't stay long.

  It seems to me that the Mexicans like North of the Border atmosphere and the Expats like the South of the Border atmosphere. Here are some photos from yesterday. My friend and I were mostly ignored except by this exuberant little boy who noticed that I was taking pictures of him jumping the pond. The first three are of him, making the jump and then smiling at the camera.

His sister is standing behind him, afraid to try it.

This is the landing.

He is smiling at me. I showed him the pictures and he was very pleased with himself.

A proud grandpa.

Almost every table was being used.

Two more older kids, messing around that water fountain. It is popular with them.

For me, sitting in that food court was like being back in the United States, in any typical food court in a mall. For some reason, I have been missing the USA.  Maybe because it has been three years since I have crossed the border. Yesterday was a boost for me, like being NOB except for the fact that my friend, Carolina, and I were only other expats hanging out there. Who needs more than one friend to talk with at a time? That is a social occasion. Two friends at once and I become quiet.  I am a real introvert. But I love watching people. There were a lot of people to watch yesterday. 

  I noticed that the Mexicans dress up and it is a big social time for them to have lunch in this mall. I liked seeing that. Next time I go there on a Sunday I should do that too, except that I have no more nice clothes. I can't find clothes here my size and the quality at Walmart leaves much to be desired. So I will keep on wearing my old shorts. No one noticed me yesterday except my friend and the little boy jumping the fountain and he wasn't noticing me, he was noticing the camera. 

Walmart, the Laguna shopping center and the area around them

The horse and her baby near my house

My Homemade Sushi

I spent several hours making my first batch of sushi, plus all the cleaning up. They look rough but taste good. I know they won't keep very long so I am going to have to eat them as quickly as possible. This will most likely be my last batch too. It is so much easier to walk the block to the sushi restaurant, eat a fresh batch that someone else made and cleaned up with no pressure to eat more than I want. And spend a few bucks, a lot less than all the ingredients I bought for these rolls. But I tried. That counts for something. Now I can really appreciate the restaurant. Here are photos of the rolls and one cut up.

I wrapped them up to try to keep them fresh.

And this is the mess of the first roll cut up. It is not easy to make good looking sushi. But it was fun to have a kitchen and be able to try. 

Yesterday's lunch at the Sushi place near my house

I eat at this place at least twice a week. I hope I can learn how to make sushi as good as theirs.

This is where it is located. Above El Toritos.

This is the California Roll. Costs fifty pesos, including the cucumber salad. 

Ajijic Wednesday Market part 2

Now I am getting to the bottom of the market where there are things I CAN eat on my new diet. Avocados are supposedly very healthy but they are also very expensive here now. 25 pesos for one small avocado. But you can see the mixed vegetable bags and the little bags of Nopal cactus

The woman is chopping up the nopal cactus into smaller pieces. I find that they keep longer when they aren't cut up first.

I bought a roll of artifical crab meat. I am going to attempt to make sushi later on today once I rest. Check out those knives. Very sharp.

I like fresh flowers but by the time I have all my food I don't want to have to carry them up the hill too.

He is playing for tips.

He is playing for tips.

He is singing for tips.

I liked this hairless dog. I think he was looking down at Chico.

This fruit and vegetable stand is already running out of supplies.

People resting at the bottom of the hill.

And this is what it looks like at the bottom of the market where all the more inexpensive fruit and vegetable stands are located. I could hardly get back through the crowd.

Now I am finally back at the top of the hill and resting with one of my favorite foods. Shrimp tostado. I haven't been to this place for a few weeks and when I got my shrimp tostado I noticed there were only a few small pieces of avocado slices on top. Usually there are lots of slices but I understand. Avocados are expensive.  Chico likes this place too because I give him little bites of shrimp.

This is a blurry photo but unfortunately the only one I took . I wanted to just eat it.

Chico is waiting for a piece of shrimp.

I snapped this photo of myself while waiting for my tostado. I am so sweaty from the humidity that it looks like I just washed my hair. Sweat is also running down my face. It is hard to shop and walk in this weather but also better than the rain. 

I finally made it back up the hill to my house. This is how I looked. Time to rest and really take a shower. And one more photo. I took it at home.

This is NOT Vodka. Well there may be a LITTLe vodka in it. The woman who sells it to me saves the biggest bottle under the counter for me. ANd I bring back the empty bottle for her. She said there was some alcohol in it. Not much, but enough to smell and maybe it is tequilla. I have read that a little tequilla is healthy for our bodies. Good to know. But it is really a bottle of pomegranate juice. I have to filter out the seeds when I get it home and put it in smaller bottles so it will fit into the frig. Pomegranate juice is very healthy but I don't like having to squeeze it and deal with the seeds. there are only a few seeds at the bottom of this bottle. You can see them if you look closely enough. I drink that much in one week. So another market day is over for me. And I am resting at home now. Chico is resting too.