Puerto Vallarta and the Tequilla Factory

So on Sunday we arrived in Puerto Vallarta. We had a city tour set up, this time on a bus. It was alright. We went to this church... and I can't remember what it's called but it's a historical site. And when we went there, there was a congregation there and they were performing baptisms... while tourists were coming in and out and taking pictures. Bizarre? That's what I thought. Anyway, we saw some other things in the bus and finally stopped off at the Tequilla Distillary and learned how tequilla is made... It was part of the tour and they had tasting after, but we left before that part and took a look at the farm before the Fiesta began. The Fiesta consisted of food, a drinking competition for the men, a tortilla making competition for the women, and some dancing. It was pretty entertaining.

The church built in the early 1900s sometime.

How to make tequilla - You grow the plants, you fire up and cook the pineapple looking things, then you crush it up. Then you ferment the stuff that comes out and then you put it through the distillary. And then maybe we missed the rest of it when we went out to the farm because someone later told me something about how worms are part of the process... Anyway, I wasn't really paying attention to the tour so you only got the very short and incomplete version of how to make it.

Meeting the animals at the farm.

The Mexican Fiesta.

This guy and his family paint these tiles using thier fingers and a fingernail that he keeps long long long. Those are the tiles he made that day. They only take about 10 minutes to finish. The bottom right painting was my favorite. One of our participants bought it.

We went back to the ship later and celebrated one of our participant's birthday which was that day. Then we went to the show that night which was a magic show which was very entertaining. Stayed tuned to see our last stop in Mexico: Cabo San Lucas!

Zihuatanejo - Try Pronouncing That!

The correct pronunciation is this: See-Watt-Tan-Ay-Ho said quickly. We had to take a tender to get onto shore. That was a little scary for some of our participants but with enough coaxing and support they managed to all board the boat successfully. Zihuatanejo is really cool little town. Although we really didn't see much. We looked at the beach and only I and Spencer (another staff) wanted to test the water. It was a little cold but not bad. Then we just helped them shop for souvenirs. It was pretty hot here too but many trees provided excellent shade. And that was pretty much our taste of Zihuatanejo.

See our boat tenders. That's what we took to get to shore. They are actually the rescue boats from the ship. Also the view from the ship.

Most of our participants on the beach with our ship in the background. Hope and Susie refused to walk on the sand.

My feet in the cool ocean water. Chacos courtesy of Alyssa - thanks!

The beach.

The busy market area. "Amigo! Take a look! This is real silver! 25 dollars but for you I will sell for 20!"

After we got back on the ship, a few of us watched this guy do ice sculpting. I think it ended up being a bird of some sort.

We also played basketball and saw three other shows that day. I actually kept awake for 2 of the 3 shows. Hooray for me! Really it meant they were fairly entertaining - and of course because one of the shows was Chinese acrobats! They were so awesome. And onward to Puerto Vallarta!

Acapulco!

We got to Acapulco at noon on Friday, the 11th. We spent the afternoon taking a city tour and then watching the cliff divers. It was pretty fun, we learned some interesting things. But it was not my most desirable way of seeing the city. I would rather walk around and explore, but with our guys, that is pretty hard. So a van tour was a good option. We saw different parts of the city and experienced Mexican drivers. They are crazy! I saw very few traffic lights, people pretty much do whatever, and everyone understands how it works. We also saw a little farming village which was pretty cool. There were piles of coconut shells everywhere and they use those to make fire. They also use the coconut for food (obvioulsy) and they use the palm tree wood to build things and so nothing goes to waste. We also watched a guy make some roof shingles. Very educational. Then we saw the cliff divers, which was ok, but i wasn't totally amazed or anything, but I suppose it is pretty impressive. I guess it was something neat to see, but not something I would go around raving about I guess. It was a hot and tiring day and we had to pay 30 cents each to use the washrooms (i didn't need to, but i think i might've refused to go anyway). But overall it was an interesting experience.

The city of Acapulco.

Piles of coconut shells waiting to be used for fires.

Nick & Bruce sampling fresh coconut.

Watching this man make roof shingles.

Cliff Divers. Look closely, you can see a diver who had just started going. He's kinda blurry, kinda hard to see...

Hope, Susie & I winding down at an evening show back on the ship... which I snoozed through...

Next stop - Zihuatanejo!

Sea Days - Wednesday & Thursday

I came home to an empty apartment. Both my roommates are out of town (one in Boston, one in D.C.) till the weekend. Everyone else I know is studying for finals.

So with that in mind, here is my second cruise post for the day. Our days at sea. There is plenty to do on the ship. And for two days, we visited the pool deck (it was pretty disappointing pool actually - and cold!), we played basketball, board games, ate food, played a free game of bingo, learned some line dances, and went to some shows. Every night there was a different show and they were all pretty entertaining. And the ones that weren't so entertaining, I took a little snooze. They had a dress up night and pictures with the captain. Those stinkin pictures cost $25 and they don't let you take any of course. Well lucky day for the photographers, our guys were so excited about pictures with the captain that many of them bought one. But it's all about the memories right?

The view for what seemed like days and days and days.

The pool deck. Complete with sunbathers, swimmers, a tiny pool, some hot tubs and junky waterslides.

Lounging on the pool deck trying to decide what to do for the day. The weather was cool as it was overcast for the morning.

They have windows that you can look down and see the navigators at work.

Steve and I waiting for a show to begin. I'm pretty sure I snoozed through it.

On Friday at noon we finally arrived in our first stop, Acapulco. More coming soon!

Cruisin in Mexico!

Well, I'm back from my cruise to the Mexican Riviera. I still feel like I'm on the boat, like the ground is rocking. It was a work cruise so we had 15 participants and 3 staff and it was quite the adventure. But everyone had a great time. I came back with 3 postcards for dad, a tan, and peeling skin from being burned on my arms. Other than that, I didn't buy any souvenirs. What would I do with them? Anyway, I think I'm going to have to do some separate posts of all the stops on the cruise so you and I don't get overwhelmed with this blog.

Here is the view of the ship as we approached it to embark. We were on the Norweigan Star, going out of LA.

Here is the view of the ship and the port as we're just getting on.

Here is the view outside as we ate lunch waiting to start sailing.

Before sailing, they do a safety drill where you have to get your life jackets and then come out to your assigned deck and they do a roll call to make sure you're there. Lucky us, no emergencies the whole cruise! Here's our crew of 15. It was a chore herding our whole group around everywhere but everyone was super friendly to us.

This is miserable me. On the first day after we started sailing, I felt so sick. And the motion sickness drugs I brought were not helping. I went to lie down at dinner time and a few hours later, vomitted- several times- and then I felt much better after that. The reception desk on the boat provided meclizine (a pill) which made the rest of my trip enjoyable. I don't know why I thought to take a gross picture of myself after throwing up, but it was all for the sake of the blog. Weird thought when you're sick isn't it?

Here is the view of the atrium area from a few decks up. Also our mini bar in our room, and what our cabin looks like, with a debut of my foot in the bottom right picture!

Later I will post some pictures of our first 2 full days at sea. We sailed that long before reaching our first port!

An Island Named... Clarence?!

Just when you thought the name Clarence was becoming obsolete... you discover an island called Clarence. Random.

So there's this large map on the wall of our eating area that's been up since we moved in to this apartment in September. The other day, I was eating my cereal for breakfast like normal, and I happened to glance up at the map and thought, "what the...."

I did a double take, blinked, rubbed my eyes, and stood up for an even closer look. Could it be? Does that teeny little island really bear the name, Clarence?! Oh boy, does it ever! And then I had to laugh because the island next to it is Elephant. (i'm still chuckling.) Anyway, for those of you who want to know, see here for the little known information about the island. Clarence Island is located in the Antarctic area. No wonder our Clarence has a cold heart.

Hahahaha. I'm just playin'. The world would be so dull without Clarence (the person, who cares about the island). But still so cool that an island exists with your name! Bet the rest of you wish you had an island too! At least there is a city called Nancy in France - though probably not pronounced the same way... Loves to you Clarence! Love, me!

Who Says We're Not Domestic!

In order to refine ourselves, enhance our skills and do something productive with our time, Alyssa and I decided we wanted to make a quilt together. Alyssa's sister, Bethany, had some fabric she bought a few years ago, which she left at their mom's house in Arizona. So when Alyssa went home, she retrieved the fabric and we decided to surpise Bethany and make the quilt for her birthday, which was this last Saturday. It was perfect since she is now married with 2 small kids and not only had forgotten about the fabric, but would never have time to make a quilt.

So one evening, Alyssa and I planned out a pattern - it took us forever to come up with one, but we did it... when you look at the quilt it seems like it would be a no brainer... but Alyssa and I have recently discovered that when we are together, we seem to have less smarts. Two brains are not always better than one. Anyway, we drew up this pattern and then went to work on a Saturday ironing the fabric, tracing out 8x8 inch squares, and cutting out all 187 squares (while watching Raiders of the Lost Ark).

The next Saturday we headed to Jenna's house (another of Alyssa's sisters), and sewed the squares together by rows. 17 squares per row, 11 rows. It took us quite a while. I'm pretty sure Jenna was unimpressed with our lack of sewing ability (her face said it all, hahaha) but oh well, we did it! Then on Tuesday, Alyssa was at Jenna's again and started sewing the rows together (I was at work). On Wednesday, we went over and finished sewing the rows together and then found that the quilt was really big, and we didn't have enough fabric for the back. So we cut off about a foot or so from each end, and it looked better shorter anyway. So it became 13 squares per row, and still 11 rows. On Thursday, Alyssa borrowed the Cox's quilting frame and set up the quilt and it's insides (while I was at work and then visiting teaching), and started tying the quilt. I contributed 3 ties. Then we went to work pinning the edges getting ready for the final sew. We were going to blind stitch it by hand on Friday evening but then I was emergency called into work and Alyssa got lazy - ok fine, she actually had other things to do and Jenna convinced her that sewing it would be faster and sturdier (I agree). So Saturday morning, Alyssa headed to Jenna's to complete our project and turn it right over to Bethany that afternoon as her birthday gift. Thanks to Jenna for letting us invade her house and use her machine all week!

And that is the story of our quilting abilities. I think we are going to make another one sometime. I was impressed with us when we were finished. Isn't it preeeeeetty!