Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Back to Blogging
I have missed blogging and sharing my life. Putting words on paper is so wonderful and therapeutic. Somehow it makes my life seem more solid and meaningful. I'm inspired by my friend, Nancy, who writes a wonderful blog in Mazatlan. She is really enjoying her life with her husband, Paul, and their dogs. We worked together and were friends in our former lives in and around Seattle. Boy have our lives changed! Now we're both in paradise and I'm finally going to see her in March when I drive down to check on our house in Sayulita. The wonderful Sayulita house has been on the market for two years in a dead economy, but that's another story entirely. Feel free to buy it!
A lot of friends and family worry about us. They hear all of the bad things that are going on at the border and in Arizona. Most of us in this area of the Pacific or Sea of Cortez coast of Mexico cross the border in Nogales. There's a lot of drug activity there I guess, but we've never been affected by it. In fact, we cross the border in the downtown area and drive right through the center of town. Sometimes we stop for gas there or get lunch at Burger King. It never occurred to us to be afraid and no one has ever threatened us in any way. I hope people realize that a lot of the drug crimes involving foreigners are simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time and yes, it has been exaggerated by the press.
As for my town, San Carlos, it is a very special place. It's about five hours by car from Tucson. It's cool in the winter and hot in the summer. Spring and fall are nearly perfect. We have a large expat population here and with that, come pros and cons. We are able to get many more products from the U.S. and we enjoy Sonoran beef and the fantastic cuisine of northern Mexico. We have Sam's Club and Walmart in Guaymas which is just a few miles away. For clothes and shoe lovers, shopping is good here and since we have a kind of winter you can buy beautiful leather boots for about $200 pesos. I am currently working on my collection. Right now I'm wearing some black suede boots that were on sale for $150 pesos. I love them way more than I love my Nordstrom boots from Italy. I'd like to get some tan ones next. We have Dollar stores here with tons of odd and fun things. It used to be hard to get canned green beans in Mexico (thought we have fresh) and I found them at the dollar store. However, they were expired and canned in China so I put them back. I have to be honest, old canned goods from China do scare me. On the up side we can get the greatest Christmas lights here (from China) and they are very cheap.
We have many activities in San Carlos and most people are involved in one or two good causes. One of my friends, Kristin, has started a dog shelter and it's pretty amazing. It's not large but at this point, most homeless dogs in our town are being taken care of. Kristin is the kind of person who can't help herself. She is all heart. She gets some donations now, but for the last few years she and her husband, took care of a lot of dogs in our town using their own money. This is just one example of how things are here. San Carlos is a place where you can do whatever you want and be whomever you want to be. I have a lot of fantastic friends here and they are a big part of my happiness.
For the last couple of years, I have strengthened my spirituality and studied Reiki. I have learned to love myself more and I've learned not to judge other people. We all have our own lives and our own agendas and hopefully we can all live together in harmony. Life is not always easy and nothing is perfect. My husband of 25 years has suffered from ataxia for the past three years and he fights a battle every single day. We have limitations, but still, we are happy and we have a lot of friends here who help us in every way. Thankfully, Bruce is a happy and optimistic person and he does very well. I feel in my heart that everything is going to be ok. Still, it's not easy. We're building a house that Bruce designed and he oversees everything to do with the construction. It's really tiring for him at times because of the disease. Thankfully it's almost done. I do a lot of research on ataxia to see if anything is new and the one thing I have learned is that it's easier to live in a warm climate when you have an illness. Your immune system doesn't have to fight so hard here so it can spend more time healing your body. At least that's what I believe. Ataxia is one of those diseases that is not researched a lot. I think knowing what I do about this disease has helped me grow as a person too. Judgements about other people go right out the window. When you meet a difficult and unhappy person, there's usually a reason and it's not a bad idea to show some compassion because there's probably something difficult going on in their life. Life is not easy these days. Many, many people are battling some kind misfortune.
A friend of mine recently said she believes that we are all here to help each other and I think that's true. There is nothing better than helping someone unconditionally. In San Carlos, you can work on your spirituality, be an artist, meditate on the beach or go bowling, fishing, four wheeling or have a beer and watch the sunset (or the people). I don't want it to sound like we're all saints here, but it does come close to paradise, at least for us. We have the Sea of Cortez, the mountains and hills, the desert and all the wonderful things that go with that. We also have the benefit of the Mexican culture to help us enjoy life and live in the moment. We have wonderful food, music and festivals; too many to count. Though the cost of living in San Carlos is not as low as some places in Mexico, it's still a lot more affordable than the US. We even have good hospitals and medical care. Did I mention cable T.V? A high school friend of mine from California just wrote to me about coming down for a dental vacation. We're working on that. I have a fantastic dentist and the cost is about 1/8 of what it is in the U.S. Oh - and bring your dog. Teddy, our border collie just had his teeth cleaned for $600 pesos (about $52 USD)which includes anesthesia and recovery time. Of course, you have to do your homework, but all in all I think I'll be staying here for the rest of my life. Please come and visit in April when the house is ready....more to come. Peace and love, Jan
A lot of friends and family worry about us. They hear all of the bad things that are going on at the border and in Arizona. Most of us in this area of the Pacific or Sea of Cortez coast of Mexico cross the border in Nogales. There's a lot of drug activity there I guess, but we've never been affected by it. In fact, we cross the border in the downtown area and drive right through the center of town. Sometimes we stop for gas there or get lunch at Burger King. It never occurred to us to be afraid and no one has ever threatened us in any way. I hope people realize that a lot of the drug crimes involving foreigners are simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time and yes, it has been exaggerated by the press.
As for my town, San Carlos, it is a very special place. It's about five hours by car from Tucson. It's cool in the winter and hot in the summer. Spring and fall are nearly perfect. We have a large expat population here and with that, come pros and cons. We are able to get many more products from the U.S. and we enjoy Sonoran beef and the fantastic cuisine of northern Mexico. We have Sam's Club and Walmart in Guaymas which is just a few miles away. For clothes and shoe lovers, shopping is good here and since we have a kind of winter you can buy beautiful leather boots for about $200 pesos. I am currently working on my collection. Right now I'm wearing some black suede boots that were on sale for $150 pesos. I love them way more than I love my Nordstrom boots from Italy. I'd like to get some tan ones next. We have Dollar stores here with tons of odd and fun things. It used to be hard to get canned green beans in Mexico (thought we have fresh) and I found them at the dollar store. However, they were expired and canned in China so I put them back. I have to be honest, old canned goods from China do scare me. On the up side we can get the greatest Christmas lights here (from China) and they are very cheap.
We have many activities in San Carlos and most people are involved in one or two good causes. One of my friends, Kristin, has started a dog shelter and it's pretty amazing. It's not large but at this point, most homeless dogs in our town are being taken care of. Kristin is the kind of person who can't help herself. She is all heart. She gets some donations now, but for the last few years she and her husband, took care of a lot of dogs in our town using their own money. This is just one example of how things are here. San Carlos is a place where you can do whatever you want and be whomever you want to be. I have a lot of fantastic friends here and they are a big part of my happiness.
For the last couple of years, I have strengthened my spirituality and studied Reiki. I have learned to love myself more and I've learned not to judge other people. We all have our own lives and our own agendas and hopefully we can all live together in harmony. Life is not always easy and nothing is perfect. My husband of 25 years has suffered from ataxia for the past three years and he fights a battle every single day. We have limitations, but still, we are happy and we have a lot of friends here who help us in every way. Thankfully, Bruce is a happy and optimistic person and he does very well. I feel in my heart that everything is going to be ok. Still, it's not easy. We're building a house that Bruce designed and he oversees everything to do with the construction. It's really tiring for him at times because of the disease. Thankfully it's almost done. I do a lot of research on ataxia to see if anything is new and the one thing I have learned is that it's easier to live in a warm climate when you have an illness. Your immune system doesn't have to fight so hard here so it can spend more time healing your body. At least that's what I believe. Ataxia is one of those diseases that is not researched a lot. I think knowing what I do about this disease has helped me grow as a person too. Judgements about other people go right out the window. When you meet a difficult and unhappy person, there's usually a reason and it's not a bad idea to show some compassion because there's probably something difficult going on in their life. Life is not easy these days. Many, many people are battling some kind misfortune.
A friend of mine recently said she believes that we are all here to help each other and I think that's true. There is nothing better than helping someone unconditionally. In San Carlos, you can work on your spirituality, be an artist, meditate on the beach or go bowling, fishing, four wheeling or have a beer and watch the sunset (or the people). I don't want it to sound like we're all saints here, but it does come close to paradise, at least for us. We have the Sea of Cortez, the mountains and hills, the desert and all the wonderful things that go with that. We also have the benefit of the Mexican culture to help us enjoy life and live in the moment. We have wonderful food, music and festivals; too many to count. Though the cost of living in San Carlos is not as low as some places in Mexico, it's still a lot more affordable than the US. We even have good hospitals and medical care. Did I mention cable T.V? A high school friend of mine from California just wrote to me about coming down for a dental vacation. We're working on that. I have a fantastic dentist and the cost is about 1/8 of what it is in the U.S. Oh - and bring your dog. Teddy, our border collie just had his teeth cleaned for $600 pesos (about $52 USD)which includes anesthesia and recovery time. Of course, you have to do your homework, but all in all I think I'll be staying here for the rest of my life. Please come and visit in April when the house is ready....more to come. Peace and love, Jan
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