Saturday, the day after the great ant invasion, we had to spend most of the morning hanging out poolside while the maintenance guys fumigated the apartment. We ordered a bite to eat and sat on loungers on the lawn. The rest of the afternoon, we just put the house back together and stayed in the house. The rain began in the evening and continued all night.

Sunday was the big day for Lupe’s Gypsy Rumba concert. The compound was abuzz with all of the staff setting up tents in case the rain didn’t let up. We jumped on the midday shuttle and cruised over to Mega to get ingredients to make dinner for our friends Arlene and Bryce. We loaded our goods in a taxi and had the driver stop at the fish market on the way home so I could pick up the fish and shrimp for tonight’s ceviche and stir fry. The rest of the afternoon was spent prepping food for the evening.

The afternoon’s entertainment started up poolside and the band sounded great from the kitchen where I was chopping up all the veggies for my shrimp, pulpo and dorado ceviche. The weather held and no more rain fell after the morning showers had passed through. Bryce and Arlene showed up a little after five and we sat around the casa gnoshing on ceviche and catching up on each other’s trips home. We all had gone back stateside about the same time.

We took them on a tour of Los Arroyos Verdes and passed by the event center just as the entertainment was starting up. We watched a belly dancer and some acrobats then I ran back to the casa for our tickets and we grabbed some seats by the bar area and watched the show. After another act where a couple climbed up on each other and balanced one on top of the other using handstands and other acrobatic moves, the music began. Then the band started playing their Latin tunes and the crowd was into it.

Some fire dancers took the show into a break and we headed back to the house and dined on a shrimp stir fry and talked until late in the evening when Bryce and Arlene hopped on their quad and roared down the road back to their condo.
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Monday morning, we woke up early and attended the Spanish class that started up over by the bar-b-que area. There were six ladies and me. The lessons were pretty basic. I was going to ask the teacher if there was a possibility of doing some solo advanced lessons, but we had to race out early and catch the shuttle to highway 200 to catch the bus into Puerto Vallarta. My doctor appointment was at 11:30, so we didn’t have time to waste. 

The bus deposited us by the hotel zone. We ate a quick breakfast at a little cafe then took a cab the rest of the way into the centro. Dr. Nunez took a look in my ear with his mini camera and we watched it on the video screen. The healing area is a whiter shade of skin but everything is healing well and the hearing is back to normal. We discussed ear plugs and ways to keep the left ear from getting as bad as the the right then made a follow up for next week where hopefully I’ll get the green light to get back in the water.

We strolled around downtown and wandered through the central market looking at the colorful offerings but buying nothing. The candy store that roasts its own garapinados was full of customers so we lined up and bought a couple of bags of the candied pecans to eat on a bench in the plaza. PJ called her sister and l hung out at a coffee shop for an hour watching a small dog charm all of the customers.

We figured out the bus system and managed to make our way home without getting stranded out in the middle of nowhere like the last time. Easy stay in night at home.

Today, Tuesday, we did nothing but take it easy. Read books and did online stuff. We pulled out the bikes in the evening and went for a ride back down a dirt road behind El Coto Campestre. It was beautiful country cruising with a long view of Puerto Vallarta in the background up against the misty jungle mountains. A farm full of pigs were wallowing around in a big mud bog and living the good life. The brick makers were digging up mud and baking batches of red bricks and roof tiles in their big kilns. Sugar cane, corn and pineapples were growing in neat rows right and left as we explored along. I forgot the camera so you’ll just have to picture the porcine paradise.

We came out further up the highway around El Coto and paid the lady a visit in her small store to pick up some home made refried beans. She makes the best beans ever. It’s the manteca and chiles. Rode home in the fading sun then took the dogs out for a walking tour going the other direction. Came home and cooked up some fish with rice and beans and leftover veggies. Quiet day getting ready for another move tomorrow. We go back into the RV come morning for a few days. Watched a few shows on our limited t.v. selection before hitting the hay.

Goodbye Casa Chabacano!
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