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I forgot to mention in the October notes that while we were on our way south there were two hotels, Cabo Alto and
Azucar, by an architect named Luis Robredo that we visited in the Costa Esmeralda. We really liked his minimalist
style and were intrigued by the possibilities. It is fun looking at buildings and thinking about what might fit here in
Calderitas.
In November we have done a lot but haven’t traveled at all. We returned to Calderitas from our road trip north and
have been here ever since. We have been waiting for our FM3 visas to be done and they now are all except for
one final signature on our little green booklet that looks like a passport. Having the FM3 means that we can enter
into contracts, open bank accounts on our own hook (our accountant had to open the one we have), and no
longer have to pay the $21 fee when we cross in and out of Mexico. We do have to renew each year as long as
we stay in Mexico.
In addition to that, we have been negotiating on an adjacent piece of land and that looks like it is about to
happen. It is contiguous to the piece we have and will make it lots easier to do our development as it will no longer
be so long and skinny…it will now measure 100 meters by 300 meters…1/3 wider…
Colleen has been taking Spanish lessons twice a week with a friend who wants to learn English…she is really
going at it with her Spanish book and I can hear an improvement already.
We found homes for the last of the kittens so we have our shower back.
We also found an architectural firm who is doing the conceptual plan for the project for free as they have
assigned it to an architectural student who will graduate this year and is using our project for his culminating
thesis. The more experienced architects will provide oversight and we know that there will be lots of revisions
before we end up with the final product anyway. Once we have the concept we will approach other firms and ask
them all for bids on the project and then choose the firm….who knows how long this will all take. The student,
Wilberth, has brought us some preliminary drawings. He has a fresh and creative mind and is so excited to offer
suggestions for new innovations in design. We have made some suggestions and he is continuing. We were really
excited to see that he took all of our suggestions to heart as he brought us his first take at the design….next
Friday we will have more drawings….this is the really fun and exciting part of it. He uses AutoCAD so we will be
able to send files to our partners for their review and comments.
In order to do our project we have to have an environmental impact study done and we have received a contract
for that part of it from Tomas Sanchez, the biologist we met when we were doing our due diligence back in
February. He will do some preliminary work and then work in concert with the architects to design the project to
minimize the impact on the land and the adjacent bay. We have some interesting things we have to work around
like the remains of Mayan ruins and some protected vegetation species. The Mayan ruins may not be disturbed
but they can be built on top of so we anticipate that some houses will be built on the platform remains of Mayan
homes from more than a thousand years ago. The platforms are only about 3 to 4 feet tall….they are not
pyramids like the one our friend in Guatemala lives on top of because his grandfather built an entire house on a
pyramid. You have to climb the pyramid steps to get to his house…it is quite fabulous actually.
The protected vegetation is some mangrove which cannot be disturbed…there is not much of it…and a special
Thatch Palm called Chit. We have some of that palm. What will occur with that is they will be counted and if we
have to remove some during construction we just have to plant that many elsewhere…not even on our own
property if we don’t want to and can find someone else who would like them….so no big deal….
Colleen and Pablo have been hacking away at the jungle…Colleen is making paths throughout the property so we
can easily walk over it all….and Pablo is expanding and maintaining the front part of the property where there is
grass planted. It is a constant project to keep the jungle at bay…some of Colleen’s paths are already starting to
have 4 to 5 inch growth on them….I participate with the jungle hacking sometimes, but I seem to be very
susceptible to the Chechen (poison sumac type plant) and I don’t like getting that dirty and sweaty….
So, while they have been hacking at the jungle I have applied for and gotten a domain name for our personal
website so it no longer will be hosted by Earthlink. The Earthlink web site development tool made it very tedious to
do updates and get creative in any way. We now have a completely redone website that looks very similar with all
the same pages, but with a new look. It will be so much easier to update and add pictures; I think you will all enjoy
looking at it….the new address is www.whirledvision.com Please go check it out….There is a new page on it called
Helping Hand that was inspired by Pablo, our machete wielding jungle hacker…
Thanksgiving was this month too…. we didn't think we were going to celebrate Thanksgiving in any traditional
way, but that all changed. We went to visit a neighbor down the road and he asked us if we were going to eat
turkey for Thanksgiving as he knew that it is a US tradition. We told him that though we liked turkey we hadn't
planned on it. He promptly called over one of his employees and sent him to get a turkey for us. It turns out this
neighbor has over 100 turkeys (we didn't know that) and he sent us off down the road with a live tom turkey in a
feed sack. We did our best to try to discourage the gift, but to no avail…we had no idea what we would do with a
live turkey. You just never know what is going to show up in your life!!!!
Fortunately, we remembered that our neighbor, Pablo, who works part time for us clearing jungle, has a couple of
turkeys he cares for. We asked him if he would keep it and feed it for a couple of days and then kill and clean it.
He agreed, so that took a load off our minds…I was picturing a turkey living in the shower. The next problem was
how to cook it without hacking it into small pieces as our little RV oven was not gonna handle this big bird. We
asked around and discovered that the local bakery roasts turkeys for people for 50 pesos as many families don’t
have ovens in their homes. The next problem was how to eat the whole thing ourselves; we invited the only
American couple we know to come eat it with us. All the other gringos that we know are Canadian and already
celebrated Thanksgiving in October.
So on our Thanksgiving dinner morning at 7 Pablo killed and cleaned the turkey…sort of…it turns out that his wife
usually cleans their turkeys…he brought it over with the feet still on, the guts inside (and not in a little wax paper
bag either), the skin hanging off of it in strips where he got a little vigorous with the boiling water to take the
feathers off, the head still attached and lots of little feathers everywhere. Together he and I finished the job and
then I used about half of our fresh water to wash the thing. It was big…and a good thing we hadn’t considered
roasting it in our oven. Can you picture the turkeys we buy at the local supermarket in the states with smooth,
white skin, no feathers anywhere, a metal loop gizmo that keeps the drumsticks close to the body of the bird and
the little timer button in the breast? Well, that is not what our turkey looked like.
I had made stuffing and got it all inside the bird when I discovered that the nifty metal clip thingy that holds the
drumsticks down has an important function and without it I found it almost impossible to wrestle this turkey, who
now had definite signs of rigor mortis, into a shape that was compact. Imagine a turkey with no feathers and skin
shreds who has decided to do the Macarena and stand on its tiptoes all at the same time…we had appendages
everywhere!!!! Colleen was off in the jungle so no help there….I finally was able to hold the body with my elbow,
wrestle one leg at a time into submission, and with some wire from my toolbox bind that sucker up….I was
pooped!!!
I had been told that it would take 4 hours to cook by the baker so I allowed an extra hour and delivered it to the
bakery all stuffed at 11am…our guests were due at 4:00. The bakery has two large ovens…the one our turkey
was going into was as big as a small bedroom, made out of clay and had a large log that was off to the side to
provide the heat as it burned. It reminded me of a very large ‘horno’ like we see in New Mexico….The baker slid
our recalcitrant bird into the oven with its little aluminum foil tent and I took off for town for an appointment with an
attorney. Then I raced home to help finish the rest of the cooking…Colleen was busy making a spinach soufflé
that her niece, Courtney, usually makes for family holiday dinners, we made mashed potatoes, gravy, and a jello
salad too….it was going to be a feast!!!
At 3:00 I went back to the bakery expecting to collect our turkey only to discover that the baker’s estimate wasn’t
quite right…the turkey was still a very pale color and not done. I drove home on our potholey road to wait for it to
cook. Ana and Phil arrived for dinner at 4 with a rusty can of cranberries in hand that they had been saving for a
long time and a beautiful Croton plant for the property. A little after 4 I returned to the bakery to collect the turkey
and it looked a lot better and more done. I was able to carve some well cooked meat off the bird and we had a
great meal with wonderful company. Ana and Phil are in their 80s so only stayed a little while and then went
home...we are still eating leftovers.
Last year on December 3rd I wrote our trip notes for November and told you all that it was my 56th birthday…well
this time it is my 57th birthday…I remember that I got a lot of great notes back from people who are mostly quiet
recipients of the travelogue…I really enjoyed all those birthday wishes so decided to write to you all on my
birthday again….Colleen is still asleep and when she wakes up we are going to take a day trip to an area around
Laguna Bacalar and then have dinner with friends…it is going to be a wonderful day…
Mom, thanks for making this day possible.
Azucar, by an architect named Luis Robredo that we visited in the Costa Esmeralda. We really liked his minimalist
style and were intrigued by the possibilities. It is fun looking at buildings and thinking about what might fit here in
Calderitas.
In November we have done a lot but haven’t traveled at all. We returned to Calderitas from our road trip north and
have been here ever since. We have been waiting for our FM3 visas to be done and they now are all except for
one final signature on our little green booklet that looks like a passport. Having the FM3 means that we can enter
into contracts, open bank accounts on our own hook (our accountant had to open the one we have), and no
longer have to pay the $21 fee when we cross in and out of Mexico. We do have to renew each year as long as
we stay in Mexico.
In addition to that, we have been negotiating on an adjacent piece of land and that looks like it is about to
happen. It is contiguous to the piece we have and will make it lots easier to do our development as it will no longer
be so long and skinny…it will now measure 100 meters by 300 meters…1/3 wider…
Colleen has been taking Spanish lessons twice a week with a friend who wants to learn English…she is really
going at it with her Spanish book and I can hear an improvement already.
We found homes for the last of the kittens so we have our shower back.
We also found an architectural firm who is doing the conceptual plan for the project for free as they have
assigned it to an architectural student who will graduate this year and is using our project for his culminating
thesis. The more experienced architects will provide oversight and we know that there will be lots of revisions
before we end up with the final product anyway. Once we have the concept we will approach other firms and ask
them all for bids on the project and then choose the firm….who knows how long this will all take. The student,
Wilberth, has brought us some preliminary drawings. He has a fresh and creative mind and is so excited to offer
suggestions for new innovations in design. We have made some suggestions and he is continuing. We were really
excited to see that he took all of our suggestions to heart as he brought us his first take at the design….next
Friday we will have more drawings….this is the really fun and exciting part of it. He uses AutoCAD so we will be
able to send files to our partners for their review and comments.
In order to do our project we have to have an environmental impact study done and we have received a contract
for that part of it from Tomas Sanchez, the biologist we met when we were doing our due diligence back in
February. He will do some preliminary work and then work in concert with the architects to design the project to
minimize the impact on the land and the adjacent bay. We have some interesting things we have to work around
like the remains of Mayan ruins and some protected vegetation species. The Mayan ruins may not be disturbed
but they can be built on top of so we anticipate that some houses will be built on the platform remains of Mayan
homes from more than a thousand years ago. The platforms are only about 3 to 4 feet tall….they are not
pyramids like the one our friend in Guatemala lives on top of because his grandfather built an entire house on a
pyramid. You have to climb the pyramid steps to get to his house…it is quite fabulous actually.
The protected vegetation is some mangrove which cannot be disturbed…there is not much of it…and a special
Thatch Palm called Chit. We have some of that palm. What will occur with that is they will be counted and if we
have to remove some during construction we just have to plant that many elsewhere…not even on our own
property if we don’t want to and can find someone else who would like them….so no big deal….
Colleen and Pablo have been hacking away at the jungle…Colleen is making paths throughout the property so we
can easily walk over it all….and Pablo is expanding and maintaining the front part of the property where there is
grass planted. It is a constant project to keep the jungle at bay…some of Colleen’s paths are already starting to
have 4 to 5 inch growth on them….I participate with the jungle hacking sometimes, but I seem to be very
susceptible to the Chechen (poison sumac type plant) and I don’t like getting that dirty and sweaty….
So, while they have been hacking at the jungle I have applied for and gotten a domain name for our personal
website so it no longer will be hosted by Earthlink. The Earthlink web site development tool made it very tedious to
do updates and get creative in any way. We now have a completely redone website that looks very similar with all
the same pages, but with a new look. It will be so much easier to update and add pictures; I think you will all enjoy
looking at it….the new address is www.whirledvision.com Please go check it out….There is a new page on it called
Helping Hand that was inspired by Pablo, our machete wielding jungle hacker…
Thanksgiving was this month too…. we didn't think we were going to celebrate Thanksgiving in any traditional
way, but that all changed. We went to visit a neighbor down the road and he asked us if we were going to eat
turkey for Thanksgiving as he knew that it is a US tradition. We told him that though we liked turkey we hadn't
planned on it. He promptly called over one of his employees and sent him to get a turkey for us. It turns out this
neighbor has over 100 turkeys (we didn't know that) and he sent us off down the road with a live tom turkey in a
feed sack. We did our best to try to discourage the gift, but to no avail…we had no idea what we would do with a
live turkey. You just never know what is going to show up in your life!!!!
Fortunately, we remembered that our neighbor, Pablo, who works part time for us clearing jungle, has a couple of
turkeys he cares for. We asked him if he would keep it and feed it for a couple of days and then kill and clean it.
He agreed, so that took a load off our minds…I was picturing a turkey living in the shower. The next problem was
how to cook it without hacking it into small pieces as our little RV oven was not gonna handle this big bird. We
asked around and discovered that the local bakery roasts turkeys for people for 50 pesos as many families don’t
have ovens in their homes. The next problem was how to eat the whole thing ourselves; we invited the only
American couple we know to come eat it with us. All the other gringos that we know are Canadian and already
celebrated Thanksgiving in October.
So on our Thanksgiving dinner morning at 7 Pablo killed and cleaned the turkey…sort of…it turns out that his wife
usually cleans their turkeys…he brought it over with the feet still on, the guts inside (and not in a little wax paper
bag either), the skin hanging off of it in strips where he got a little vigorous with the boiling water to take the
feathers off, the head still attached and lots of little feathers everywhere. Together he and I finished the job and
then I used about half of our fresh water to wash the thing. It was big…and a good thing we hadn’t considered
roasting it in our oven. Can you picture the turkeys we buy at the local supermarket in the states with smooth,
white skin, no feathers anywhere, a metal loop gizmo that keeps the drumsticks close to the body of the bird and
the little timer button in the breast? Well, that is not what our turkey looked like.
I had made stuffing and got it all inside the bird when I discovered that the nifty metal clip thingy that holds the
drumsticks down has an important function and without it I found it almost impossible to wrestle this turkey, who
now had definite signs of rigor mortis, into a shape that was compact. Imagine a turkey with no feathers and skin
shreds who has decided to do the Macarena and stand on its tiptoes all at the same time…we had appendages
everywhere!!!! Colleen was off in the jungle so no help there….I finally was able to hold the body with my elbow,
wrestle one leg at a time into submission, and with some wire from my toolbox bind that sucker up….I was
pooped!!!
I had been told that it would take 4 hours to cook by the baker so I allowed an extra hour and delivered it to the
bakery all stuffed at 11am…our guests were due at 4:00. The bakery has two large ovens…the one our turkey
was going into was as big as a small bedroom, made out of clay and had a large log that was off to the side to
provide the heat as it burned. It reminded me of a very large ‘horno’ like we see in New Mexico….The baker slid
our recalcitrant bird into the oven with its little aluminum foil tent and I took off for town for an appointment with an
attorney. Then I raced home to help finish the rest of the cooking…Colleen was busy making a spinach soufflé
that her niece, Courtney, usually makes for family holiday dinners, we made mashed potatoes, gravy, and a jello
salad too….it was going to be a feast!!!
At 3:00 I went back to the bakery expecting to collect our turkey only to discover that the baker’s estimate wasn’t
quite right…the turkey was still a very pale color and not done. I drove home on our potholey road to wait for it to
cook. Ana and Phil arrived for dinner at 4 with a rusty can of cranberries in hand that they had been saving for a
long time and a beautiful Croton plant for the property. A little after 4 I returned to the bakery to collect the turkey
and it looked a lot better and more done. I was able to carve some well cooked meat off the bird and we had a
great meal with wonderful company. Ana and Phil are in their 80s so only stayed a little while and then went
home...we are still eating leftovers.
Last year on December 3rd I wrote our trip notes for November and told you all that it was my 56th birthday…well
this time it is my 57th birthday…I remember that I got a lot of great notes back from people who are mostly quiet
recipients of the travelogue…I really enjoyed all those birthday wishes so decided to write to you all on my
birthday again….Colleen is still asleep and when she wakes up we are going to take a day trip to an area around
Laguna Bacalar and then have dinner with friends…it is going to be a wonderful day…
Mom, thanks for making this day possible.
Copyright - All Rights Reserved
2005
2005
November 2005
Around the World with Kathe and Colleen