Birdwatching

This morning a birder from La Peñita came and led us on a 3 hour birding walk through our park.  We saw quite a few birds and he will lead another tour in the park next week.  I saw 2 new birds for me - a Northern Waterthrush and a Wilson's warbler.  A few days ago I saw a Masked Tityra.  There was a flock of Black-bellied tree ducks nesting in our estuary.  It always amazes me how many birds are in the park if you take your time and wait in different areas.

Ani

I returned from birding with 20 minutes to spare before Spanish class.  

Our friends finished patio.

Feliz Cumpleaños Cam

Morning coffee

We went for a birthday breakfast up at the pool this morning.  Cam had Huevos Rancheros and I had Bennys which is a Mexican version of eggs benedict along with fresh orange juice and coffee.

The afternoon was spent celebrating Cam's birthday with friends on our patio and checking out the progress being done on our friends patio two doors down.

Old cement broken up and removed

 Levelled and water, electrical lines, and reinforcing mesh installed

Mixing cement (note gas can/line on old refrigerator, improvising after mixer motor's gas tank expired).

Just about done

Once the pad is rebuilt, they are having an outdoor kitchen built.  After Christmas.

Clearing up

The sky had cleared and the ocean calmed in the morning.

Our neighbour had to have some dead branches trimmed from his tree so a park staff got a machete and ropes and up he went.

Carlo's brick work and little trench worked and we had no mud on our pad.

Later in the afternoon Teri went up on our roof and discovered some caulking that had deteriorated so she fixed it.

Rain, Wind & Waves

We awoke to the sound of rain and wind against the constant roar and crash of the ocean.  We went  out and took down our rear canopy and put in our awning during a brief respite in the weather.  It is a tropical storm and the wind is warm on our skin.  No need for coats in fact it would be too hot.  Everyone was checking on their neighbours and lending a helping hand where needed.

I stood on the patio for awhile feeling the caress of wind and water.   Leaves scattering around me from the huge fig tree nearby.  Palm trees swaying, fronds rustling, whispering in the breeze.  The Magnificent Frigate birds sailing above and around me.  Truly sailing, cutting through the gusts, on the breath of the sea.   I felt immersed in the environment, in the motion, in the huge expanse of sea and sky, no longer an onlooker.

The weather is supposed to remain the same tomorrow and perhaps even until Sunday.  An opportunity to experience a different aspect of our surroundings.  Still, I am glad Carlos got the bricks and trench in!  

We had our Spanish class in the late morning and made a trip to the grocery.  Otherwise we stayed indoors, cozy in the RV.

I can only express today in words as photos would be rather blurred.  Meanwhile, I present you with some photos taken on earlier jaunts into town.

Yes, another Rooster 

This fellow greets us on our walks every day.

El Gato

A dove cote

Looks like Collared doves.

Mercado

Another day at the market.

Making fresh candied nuts

Shrimp

Comenzamos clases de español hoy

We started back into our Spanish lessons today. Maestro Ivan (I-ban), like any good teacher, was sadly disappointed with how much we had forgotten over the summer. (Twice, I've accidentally referred to our period away from here as the winter; indeed, the summer in Canada is much cooler than our time in Nayarit). We started back into the basics, turns out there is no "Z" sound in Spanish, it is pronounced as an "S", no "V" sound, pronounced as a very soft "B", no "H" sound, it is never pronounced. "D" is pronounced as the "th" sound in "the", hence "todo" is properly pronounced "toe-tho", "nada" "nah-tha", "pescado" "pess-ka-tho", etc. A single "r" is a soft "r", "pair-o", but a double "rr" gets rolled like you were a drunken Scottish lord, "perro" pronounced "perrrrro". (pero means "but", however, perro means "dog"). I had just gotten used to pronouncing "ll" as a "y" (llamo pronounced yamo) when Ivan dropped the bombshell that a double "l" is actually pronounced as a "j" (llamo is not pronounced yamo, but rather jamo)!! We went through hard "G"s (grande - gran-day), soft "G"s (gente - hen-tay), and hard "G"'s with silent "u"'s (Guadalajara). We went around the table of five students, saying the five or ten examples of each sound we were working on. When it is a sound or usage that you are not familiar with, it can initially (and secondarily) be difficult to even hear the sound, never mind the difference between the correct pronunciation and whatever mangled attempt we were producing.

Luckily, today was a short class, my tongue felt like it had been doing somersaults. It is the reality of trying to minimize your accent when speaking another language.  An Ivan quote - "Oh yes, that is understandable, however it sounds very Canadian" 8-).

We had a bit of wind today and they are predicting rain for the weekend possibly even tomorrow so Carlos came and fixed our wall where we needed some bricks added so the water won't run into our site if its a downpour.

 Lots of colourful plants in the park right now.

Very large bees, about size of a Loonie

Bananas

We spent the afternoon watching the ocean.   The birds were having a great time soaring the winds.  Some friends dropped by for some refreshments and they helped us drop the rear copy before they left due to the wind.  We finished off the day with an excellent dinner at Wanda's - ribs, shrimp burger, coleslaw, fries, wine and beers for 500 pesos including the tip.

Pescado (fish)

We had our first fish rodeo on the beach yesterday.  I caught it a little late as I was out walking Kirk.  Little silver fish running up the beach with the big fish, probably Crevalle Jacks, cutting through the surf behind them and the Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigate birds diving to get their share as well.

Feeding frenzy.

Today our neighbours came in from fishing with a Rooster fish or Peje Gallo, not necessarily considered a good eating fish, it depends who you ask.  It is distinguished by its "rooster comb", seven very long spines of the dorsal fin.  It is a member of the jack family.

  

Today was Taco Tuesday.  So we had fish, shrimp and beef tacos.  I asked Cece's mom "con permiso, por favor" (with permission, please) to take her photo.  She agreed.

Pork, fish, shrimp, chicken and beef tacos and quesadillas as well as a potato, fried onions, beans, coleslaw, salsas etc.  20 pesos a taco the rest comes with it.

Dessert

It was a gorgeous evening.

And of course free Margaritas.