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!

In memory of Pequena.....

Life on the street.... Last night Botas bolted into the yard and after the kitten. We hauled him out right away, but couldn't see her in the dark. This morning the grizzly discovery is that the dog had killed her in one snap. It is too bad we hadn't been able to get close enough to bring her in the house sooner, but it is a very sad day here at the casa. Botas is learning to be more civilized, but he is nontheless a street dog, a wild dog, and chasing cats is part of his life. Sadly, this one did not get away. Diane is going to show us how to do some serious cat training with him, but in the meantime we will miss our little Pequena.