For those who don't know, the UMAR campus of Huatulco is built right on a national wildlife park reserve. It is incredibly beautiful and I'm sure that is partly why all the students and staff arrive to work in a good mood. It's such an excellent work situation. It's Paradise.
So we get a lot of wildlife, mostly lizards: small salamander like critters and big iguanas. After a while, you don't necessarily notice and walk right by a two foot iguana chilling out on a tree branch right beside your head. I saw two beautiful pheasants around sundown last week. I don't keep my camera handy nearly enough.
Crystel asked, "Do you think that's a spider?" early Monday morning before the lights were on in the hallway. It certainly was. It was a substantial tarantula, dead. Maybe the cleaning fluid on the floor did it in. Thor picked it up with a piece of plastic. "Dead or not, the hairs are very irritating to human skin." That's nice to know. You should be aware of one crawling on you long before it has a chance to bite.
Friday, someone came into my office. "Do you want to see two iguanas having sex?" Well, they're animals so I didn't jump up out of my desk, figuring it would all be over in seconds anyway. They were still at it. Two of them had crawled under the flowered bushes right outside our office building for a little privacy. That idea went all to hell as half the English department showed up for the performance. It must have really put the pressure on. As much as possible, it was surprisingly beautiful. They're big lizards so right away they have that going against them but it wasn't over in seconds. In fact, they seemed rather loving and tender, savoring the moment. Maybe I read too much from their faces but see for yourself. They look kind of sweet.
From Umar, I can take a crowded old bus for only 3 pesos. It's more than just cheap transportation. It's an adventure. Not knowing whether or not the bus I saw would be the last, I managed to squezze myself on but not quite in the bus one night. It was okay. Nobody stopped me. I had one foot on the first step and the other on the second. It felt fairly safe. Next night Thor and I hopped on. We each had a grip on the door and both feet more or less on the bottom step. It didn't feel that secure and it's a fast bus until we hit city limits. We were just pulling out when Thor reminded me to hang on tight. "Remember. You fall, you die." That was enough for me. We both jumped off before the driver peeled off on to the highway.
Thor gave me his bicycle that night. It needed a new seat to replace the torture rack he'd been using and a pedal. I replaced it all and haven't used the bus again. I discovered the shoulder of the highway is rough and dark at night and reminded myself to get a helmet but that's the sort of thing that can wait for indefinite tomorrows, like a haircut. My lunch hour trip to Santa Cruz moved the date up. I was almost there when I heard a Whumppp, then a truck horn and what sounded like a basketball bouncing behind me. I pulled over first before taking a look and the truck pulled over too. A coconut had fallen from a tree and completely demolished his windshield, before bouncing down the road after me. That could easily have been my head. I bought a helmet that very night. I've been encouraging everyone towear one ever since. Broken limbs and death are scary enough but head trauma and brain damage scare me the most. Even with the helmet, I'm not certain I would survive a coconut attack or if I'd be dependent on someone spoon feeding me for the rest of my life. At least there would be a fighting chance.
The coconut incident happened right about here.
So, thanks to Thor, I am independently mobile. He's leaving in a week and that's a shame for us all. He has a wealth of practical information and he's been my dependable answer man for just about every little problem. Good guy and brilliant. Korea is lucky to get him.
Thor thought he was just too big and heavy for the bike when the pedal came off. He is a bit of a giant but the flashiest looking bikes around here are FORDs. I was almost late for work on Friday when a pedal broke off. The spike remained on. It was bent like cheap aluminum or solder. I'm nowhere near as big as Thor, probably less than half his size, but my my bicycle legs came back to me after about a week and I've been taking the final hill on high gear and using more pressure. Still, this shouldn't happen. The only way one of these pedals could last is if someone stayed on the granny gear all the time and never rode up a hill. Any engineer would know how substandard these parts are. It's not right. For a lot of Mexicans, a bike represents a serious investment. They shouldn't have to replace pedals every 2 to 3 weeks. I wonder who's making this junk. A Mexican factory or some unscrupulous corporation from back home, held to basic standards locally but free to dump crap on southern soil. It wouldn't be tolerated up north, in Europe or Asia. God forbid, the status quo of the poor paying more should ever be unbalanced.
Problem solved. I took it back to the repair shop and asked for the strongest pedals available. My new Spanish for this week: "mas fuerte, por favor."
One of the issues that kept me hopping on my free time was the apartment. The first one just wasn't working out. For a lot of reasons. There was a toilet tank that constantly dripped water into a bucket. Every 24 hours that bucket was full. The kitchen sink wouldn't drain. I tried industrial drain cleaners. No good. On Thor's recommendation, I gave Alka Selzter tablets a whirl. That worked a little but the problem wouldn't go away. They spray this town with insecticides but standing water on the coast is still a serious health hazard. People tell me that, yes, you can catch dengue fever twice and it's worse the second time. Worse!!?? That can only mean you die.
I forced myself out of bed last Saturday morning and went looking for a better place. Found one. Quite a few more pesos but what a place. Sure, it has it has flaws but it's a big furnished luxury palace to me. Great features. I have a huge frost free fridge cold enough to keep ice cream. There's a high end gas oven and stove that needs no matches. Gas flares up at the touch of a button that sends an electrical spark with a snap. I am afraid of the oven though. The electric charge doesn't work below and I ended up with my right hand in cold ice for two hours last night after a minor explosion. Whoomp. The shower! Yow. I have one of those high powered shower heads like they use all over Guatemala only without the scary corroded electric wires. Turn this thing on full blast and you can drown under it. I have a hot water heater and mornings can be chilly but I rarely use it because I need that refreshing jolt to get moving some days. It's a small act of courage to turn the tap but once you're in, you're in. I love my shower.
I had all my stuff moved in after five bicycle trips from the ghetto and spent the afternoon cleaning and arranging what I could. I wanted to get as much done as possible because Mike was coming down from Miahuatlan to do an apartment hunt of his own. I kept hustling, expecting a call any minute, until it was dark and my productivity was in decline. I tried to call him and that's when I figured out I'd given him, and almost everyone else, the wrong number. William picked up and I could hear Mike and Richard in the background. They were just about to knock at the door I woke up behind that morning. It was fantastic. Instant house warming party with good friends and alcohol. Richard even made us all a yummy pasta.
Next day we were off to Arracito, a tiny beach near Tangolunda and a high end condo neighborhood. Great snorkelling. Richard has one of those snorkels that automatically shuts off when you dive. It holds your breath for you. Strange sensation. I saw a nice sized oyster shell at the bottom that now serves as a groovy ashtray. Good weekend. This one is almost over. Yesterday was nap day. I felt the energy depleting all week long. I needed more sleep. I had a fever. Gone. There was a night time Chinese New Year celebration at Arracito I couldn't make. I wondered if I'd be able to sleep after a whole day of napping. At 9 o'clock, I gave it a whirl. I was under in 3 seconds
Everyone agrees the new place has a "Three's Company" vibe. It's so 70s. Makes me want to listen to Peter Frampton and Supertramp. Iv'e been overdue for a haircut for about a month so the apartment really suited me. But I was tired of the 70s hair and finally squeezed in a haircut on Thursday.
This is what happens when you're overtired. You fall asleep while someone cuts your hair and wake up with one of the most conservative cuts of your life. I was out of the sun. A soft cool breeze blew in from the street and I was out like a light. The lady was very meticulous. I probably napped there for a full half hour. Once in a while she would make a noise and my eyes would open. Holy smokes. I thought, "Stop. That's enough. Put some back, would you?" but I didn't say a word and fell right back to sleep. Everytime she took a brush or the buzzer for touchups, I thought,"Ok, that's it." and then the scissors would come out and she was back at it. What could be left? I have very short hair but at least it beats that Sgt. Rock cut I got in Mexico city before leaving for Korea. Plus there was that horrible cut the girl gave me in Panajachel. I think she was trying to give me a faux hawk because you saw that stupid cut everywhere there. So this lady had a lot of damage to undo and probably had to go that far down to get life back to normal.
Three weeks ago, my life of endless slacking finally came to an abrupt and overdue stop. I forced myself out of bed one morning well before the usual good and ready feeling arrived and it has been non-stop ever since. I was on the clock again.
I've been way too busy to update this blog. I tried yesterday on my lunch hour but it was down. All Blogger blogs were off the air. Hopefully I can connect today. Bad enough if this illustrated journal disappears off the internet but what about "PCL Linkdump", "Cosmobells" or "Data Junkie"? Those are blogs that really matter.
Emails? Hardly. I'm afraid I've lost touch permanently with some fun and interesting people I've met along the road. I've also had to bail on several social events in order to preserve my strength. I would have liked to join in the fun but I knew I'd be heading for burnout if I pushed myself any harder. From Crucecita to Pochutla by cheap bus, to Puerto Angel by camionetta and on foot the rest of the way to the local UMAR, the oldest and biggest of three Oaxacan oceanside universities. They even have a pool.
Puerto Angel is so hilly. It was a long hot climb but I made it to campus on time. A few minor details had been forgotten but the people concerned were quite friendly and cooperative and didn't throw up barricades. They just said to bring the missing items to the administrators at my own UMAR in Huatulco. I met only one man who spoke English so I didn't know how well things were going until I found myself officially employed. Photocopy machines all over campus had been dying of heat strokes and they wanted triplicates of something or another so I had an hour to explore the hilly campus.
Finally they said I could go and wouldn't need to come back which might have been good or bad. For all I knew, I'd messed up the application process so badly, it was pointless to go back because the cause had been lost. Ah, worst case scenarios. They rarely happen but I like to prepare.
I took a lunch break down at the beach. Had a 5 minute splash after the waitress took my order. That's probably my last visit to Puerto Angel for a while. I finally got around to the sea wall walk from Playa Panteon, where all the snorkeling tours embark, to the main one with the wharf.
There's a little video to commemorate the day, music courtesy of the Cryptones, tapped off with a peek at Dr. Simi, the pharmaceutical mascot, dancing up a storm in Pochutla across the street from the bus station.
I made it back to Huatulco in time to take over my first class. It felt good to be a productive member of society again.
From then on, it's been hectic. My lunch breaks have been spent racing to different offices for various essential documentation or catching up with the new game as I'm coming into class in the latter third of the semester. Only once did I make it to the beach at lunch hour and I was running a fever that day. I couldn't let it stop me. Sometimes exercise is a better cure than bed rest. Had a great splash at Santa Cruz, cycled back to work, popped a couple of Tylenol before bed and woke up tired but less feverish.
I think all the daily rush business is just about behind me now. I feel settled in and almost organized. This a great place to be. The atmosphere on campus is very upbeat. Students, support staff and teachers all seem quite happy. Some of the teachers I work with have been here several years which says a lot in this high turnover business.
Thanks to a nice lady I met in Chiapas, previously missing pictures (because of a dead battery one day and losing the camera forever on the next) of Canon Sumidero, Las Grutas and Chiflon Falls have been added to these posts. Thank you, Erendira.
One of my friendly neighbors at the Brisa Marina was out on the shore line to capture a magnificent sunset when I walked into her frame. That's me on the left, packing in the board for another day, on my way for a shower. Only two more days of vacation after that night.
It must have been the next day that some ******* stole my sunglasses while I was in the water. They were just cheap ones, easily broken, so I had them carefully laid out on my shirt, in full view. I saw a group of guys walk suspiciously close to my stuff as they passed by into a cabana area. that's when he must have swooped down and snatched them. Just a crime of opportunity. They didn't go through my bag or my shirt or I would have lost cash and an MP3 player as well.
I saw the guy when I was packing up for a break from the sun. He was leaving the cabanas with just one of his friends, both of them around early to mid-twenties, super cool badass dudes. It wasn't the sunglasses that gave the game away. They were kind of generic looking. It was the grin the bastard gave me. He turned his head to flash them at me as if to say "Ha ha. Fuck you." His little buddy smirked at me with a little toss of the head. I thought out loud. "Those guys look like a couple of *******s."
I was glad to see that comment wiped the grins and smirks away. They looked kind of threatened. They might have thought I was stalking them. I just happened to be walking that way along the shore behind them. They started sticking their skinny arms out as if they were muscle bound. No more cocky smirks, that's for sure.
I don't fight but they didn't know that. And I certainly wasn't going to challenge them without proof. Those glasses were so cheap and ordinary I couldn't prove they were mine.
It put me in a bad mood. I grumped and complained about it to people. One young lady nearby said someone stole her hammock. Three people I've known lost laptops. It brought my petty loss in perspective. Still, the image of their make believe tough guy taunts...
On the bright side, one of the people I know who lost his laptop got it back and the thief is festering in a Pochutla jail, waiting to be shipped back to France.
