Another new face....

This little girl was on her way to be euthanised.....oh dear. She belonged to someone who became too sick to look after her, so got passed on to several homes where there were other animals and she freaked. She is an adult, spayed, and otherwise healthy.







Someone suggested she just be put out in the jungle, so she was out there for 3 days before our friends Diane and Jill found her again, injured, dehydrated and starving.  Her name in Spanish was "my bitch" so we have renamed her Mariposa, since she has flitted about a lot lately and has the colouring of a monarch butterfly.





Jill took her for a few days, but has another street cat and they didn't get along. So we agreed to foster her while a good permanent home is found. She has been a loved house cat, so loves to sleep on the furniture, take her baths wherever she likes, and has now enjoyed canned cat food for the first time.




She is very sweet, very mellow, and very affectionate, and has no interest in even going outside. She likes to sleep lots, get cuddles and eat, and that is so easy for us. We hope a good full time home is found for her, but in the meantime, we are enjoying having her in our home.

Grey Cup!

OK, the other thing that was happening Sunday was the Grey Cup. I know, BC wasn't in it, dammit, but we went to root for the western team, Saskatchewan. The PG Sandbox sports bar in Playa has the game on every year, so we were back again!








Didn't see even one sign of Montreal fans - it was an audience of a sea of green - shirts, faces, hats and flags.








There were Canadian flags everywhere, and we had a great time cheering with friends Stan and Norma from PM.








We stayed until we had to leave for the Sunday eve jazz concert and were disappointed to learn later that Montreal won - again!!!! Still part of a wonderful day and weekend.

Jazz Festival!

So the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival was as wonderful as other years. There has been a jazz festival in Playa del Carmen for many years, but this organizing group has been doing them since -07, so this is the 4th.

This first band is Aguamala, a large amazing band.




 I know seeing pics of bands on a big stage is not like seeing it live, with 12,000 other devoted jazz fans, but sitting in the powdery white sand for these evenings of free jazz is beyond wonderful. Second band of the night was the amazing George Duke, below. Then John McLaughlin, which we don't have a still pic of for some reason and finally The Manhatten Transfer - WOW!!!  So if you would like to see all the pics, including some videos of the music, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/daphneandmiki/RivieraMayaJazzFestival2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCKeQ__6IyrmMEQ#

Posada Mariposa

A charming light on a stair landing at the hotel. Lots of nice little touches like this throughout the place, and it was only 2 blocks from the beachfront resort, Mamitas, where the Jazz concerts were held.









Our bedroom - and the suite had a nice big bathroom, too.









The main room - full kitchen, living area with either an additional bed or couch area.








Our breakfast restaurant, right across the street from our hotel. Great food and great staff.

Playa del Carmen

We got to Playa and met Lee for an extended lunch........so great to see her again.








This is our hotel on 5th Avenue. Been here since '99 and is a lovely place.


















The balcony where we had morning coffee and nightcaps after returning from the Jazz Festival concerts.






The courtyard and main lobby area. So many little hotels like this one in Playa where there is sometimes just a doorway on the street and then it opens up into a magical space once you go inside.

Jazz Festival!!

Nov. 25 - 28 is the annual Jazz Festival in Playa del Carmen. We head off today for the weekend to take in Sat and Sunday night shows, and stay at the little Hacienda Mariposa on 5th Street. This is an international festival with world class jazz musicians, and we look forward to it every year. Thanks to Rob and Jo for juggling dates so we can spend the whole weekend soaking in the music. The concerts are held at the beachfront resort, Mamita Club, on an enormous stage set up on the beach. Oh - and did I mention all 4 nights of music are FREE!!!!! You set up your chair on the beach, buy cold beer for a dollar, eat at the nearby restaurant and join hundreds of people who are grooving to the music. May not get to the internet until we get home Monday, but stay tuned for my pics and comments next week. Here is the web site to check it out.
www.rivieramayajazzfestival.com

the blues is back!!!

In front of the bookstore last night, the 2 rasta boys put on quite a show - one on stilts who was the drummer, and the other 2 who juggled fire balls on the ends of ropes. Always something fun going on to entertain!










After we closed the store at 9 we headed down to the Argentinian bar, Sativa (which translates directly to marijuana....:-). Here is the logo, which is repeated throughout the bar.






Jimmy and the Blues Buddies did a great show - it was so great to have them back in town. The Men in Blues band (Jimmy and the rest of the guys) will be performing again at David Lau's starting January 1st, but in the mean time we still have great blues in town. Welcome back, Jimmy!







Sharon, Miki and I sat outside where we could still hear the music and still have a cool breeze. We had a late supper of wings, salad and baguette sandwich and enjoyed a nice visit with Sharon and fabulous music.

friends old and new

Every day in the town square, the school kids gather at the end of their day. They start at 7 am and are in school until 1 pm, and they hang out in the square until the local bus comes to take them home. They all have pristine white shirts, no matter where they live.







Lee (from Ek Balam) came to PM for a visit, and we got to meet her new fella, Alan. Lovely guy, living in both Mexico (Playa del Carmen) and Colorada, he teaches ESL and works with troubled kids.









We met at David Lau's after work and had a drink and a visit there.







They missed the bus to Playa so stayed overnight at our place and took Miki to breakfast the next morning while I went off to the bookstore. It was so good to see Lee again and to finally meet this wonderful guy she has told us about.

the beach - finally!!!!

We have been here a week and a half and JUST got to stick our toes in the sand and bodies in this wonderful warm water. The frigate birds did their aerial ballet over our heads.....








Miki enjoys a swim.......











So does Daf......







And the fish boats tie up at the end of the day. Fresh fish abounds in PoMo, and you can buy the fresh catch daily at the co-op and a number of fish markets in town. Yum yum!

lunch at the beach

This will look familiar to many of you - the deck at John Gray's Mother in Law's (La Suegra) - one of our favourite haunts!













La Suegra from the beach - such a great deck with the best view of the beach in town - great food, great margarita's!!!!!!!! and wonderful people!











This was a good bye lunch with Jill, who leaves soon for the U.S. for some work at the Smithsonian and Christmas with family. She and Miki are discussing the genome project here.








Fabulous tortilla soup is one of the best things on the menu.....yummy!

weather.....

The joys of a day when the tropical rain pours and then the sun comes out is this - an amazing rainbow right out the bookstore window.











10 minutes later and it was a complete rainbow from end to end - gorgeous!!!!








The main PoMo dock - check out that beautiful reef out there just waiting for happy snorkellers....soon to be us!!!!!









Ah, the full moon in all its glory over the town square. Makes me feel like howling with delight!