Bye Bye My Friends, Goodbye!

Bienvenido, loyal reader. Please join Bruce and Mary as they say “Adios” to their favorite gringo and Canadian (technically Canadians are not gringos) friends. As usual for those of  who prefer to view these posts from the original blog-site, please click here.

We have house-sat this mansion for about 3 1/2 yrs now and don’t get me wrong, it’s been an incredible opportunity for us, but the time has come for a change. The need for our own place has been growing for awhile. Being homeless, even in relative luxury, carries a toll. We had been having conversations with our very good friend Jaromey, a property mgr (and the very first person we met here) about finding a place on the beach, here, when we made a new friend who impacted our move decision quite dramatically.  Loyal readers may remember Pat from our Christmas blog. Well we made instant friends with this very likeable guy who was doing his due diligence, traveling the country to decide where in Mx he was going to spend his retirement.  At that point, PV, Puerto Vallarta was his first choice and we enjoyed talking about PV, a lot, as we had vacationed there with family about 10 yrs ago.  And we came to a sudden realization: We love the beach and we love the mountains and we loved PV during that vacation. And we also remembered that as wonderful as our Merida experience has been, we are only here by accident, our original intention when we ran away to Mx was to end up in a place like PV. So we made our decision but kept it quiet as I hate goodbyes. I guess I was kind of hoping we could just sneak off in the middle of the night, which Mary of course would have never allowed.  But when we discovered that our good friends Larry and Reg were taking an extended tour back to Canada and would not return until we were gone, we put the word out and our farewell tour commenced.

Here we are being treated by Reg and Larry at La Pimienta. It is our first visit here and the food is wonderful which is no surprise as Reg and Larry have well deserved reputations as foodies. We met Reg and Larry when we first came to Merida – they were my first personal training clients.

Here is the lovely Tonia with su esposo Bob. Tonia was another personal training client and a very good friend. Tonia is originally a NYer but they migrated here from La Manzanilla, south of PV. She gave us some great tips for day trips south.

We originally met Lorcan and Lexi at Tonia’s surprise BD for Bob. Lorcan is an Irish/Canadian and Lexi is a Francophone from Ottawa which is where they summer. They have a house here in Centro for the rest of the year. Lorcan always makes me laugh and Lexi is about the most sociable person you’ll ever meet.

Sharon is one of our best friends and here we are in su casa. We met by way of house-sitting for her, nearly 4 yrs ago. Our upcoming change of venue has given given her the wanderlust. Keep us posted, Sharon!

Dave the Brit y su novia, Amalia, sitting on the patio at Sharon’s casa. Dave has Hacienda Nueva, a deli on the corner of 58 and 47, Centro. When we first met Dave 4 yrs ago, he was just passing through on his way to South America. I guess he got lost.

Jill and Steve, friends and co-workers, could not make the company going away party so they were kind enough to take us out to dinner, here at La Bierhaus, Centro. Getting caught up we chatted about Merida’s Mystery Theatre: Love Kills,  which was a resounding success. I knew that she was involved in it but I had no idea that it was her baby!  She conceived, wrote, cast, and directed the production. We also did not know that she belonged to a professional acting troupe back in Kansas. So, being that she is not in Kansas anymore she was inspired to do this work for Merida enthusiasts. And fans, she’s got another one in the works. Oh, here is her IMDB listing. She plays the school teacher near the end of C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America. Cool, eh?

This is Bette our good friend from the Merida Verde book project and her Cuban husband Lumino. We’re on the patio, at the dipping pool of their casa in Centro. Bette is an author and she has just published, as a collaborative effort,  Written out of History: Memoirs of Ordinary Activists. Read about how this Jewish girl from Boston made a difference.

And now we’re to the company going away party:

Chuck and Joanne hosted this party at their very cool casa/B&B, Oasis del Mar.

Our friend Jaromey was able to make the party. We did not know that Jaromey is also close with Cindy, our co-worker.

Co-workers Lin and Joan. We’ve known Joan for several years but we meet Lin, a new hire, for the first time at the party.

I’m meeting Jim, a neighbor of Chuck and Joanne’s, for the first time. He is a Wisconsinite and we’re having fun blasting Gov. Scott Walker. You know, I don’t even bother feeling people out anymore before I state my mind on politics as it is so rare to meet an expat who is not liberal. Is that because conservatives can’t abide change? Oh, oh, here we go.

Jim’s esposa. Sorry Jody, about catching you with your mouth full. I should not be allowed the use of this camera.

We screwed up and didn’t get a decent pic of  friends and co-worker Judy and her esposo Jeff at the party, so here they are (plus Jill) at the company x-mas party.

Lynda and Don are a fun couple and neighbors of Chuck and Joanne’s. As is the rule on the beach, they, as most expats, are Canadian.

My caption for this pic is, “I can’t believe we’re leaving!!” You’re welcome to choose your own.

Marie-Christine, another co-worker, is a Francophone from Quebec.

Joanne, Cindy and new hire Jonna. She is from CA and in her previous life she was a Lt in the SF sheriff’s dept. One of her duties, as the jails were so overcrowded, was to essentially do triage and figure out who got put in jail and who got let go on their own recognizance. Complicating her job was a fellow Lt’s obsession with the “longest undefended border in the world”. He was convinced that it wasn’t the illegals from south of the border you had to worry about, it was those nasty Canadians! So jaywalking Canadians were constantly jamming the queue awaiting immigration processing, which drove Jonna crazy. But finally the problem was solved when the Immigration official made sure it was his last visit to the SF sheriff’s department by yelling at Jonna’s cohort, “If it isn’t rape, murder, or kidnapping, put these Canucks back on the street!!!” Jonna had me in stitches by the end of this story.

Jonna, her parter Mimi, and me.

Chuck and Joanne had arranged for a local taco stand to cater for us. I put away 10 of these bad boys, yummm!

And for dessert, Chuck and Joanne thoughtfully had this scrumptious cake prepared.

Good Luck, it says.

Chuck, fresh from a vacation to Cuba with Joanne (Canadians can do that legally) provided us with puros Cubanos, Cuban cigars, all evening. Here we are reminiscing about that fateful day over three years ago, when we met at the Merida English Library’s MELL-O Night. I stole Chuck’s chair next to Joanne and she filled me in on these awesome (and portable) moderating jobs. Shortly after that night, with Chuck’s endorsement, we were hired, a strong friendship was forged and here we are, at the end of all things (sorry couldn’t resist the Lord of the Rings reference) here in Yucatan.

It’s late and we’re down to the hardcore. I think Cindy is showing hubby Dan and me her Wii work-out…. but I’m not sure. BTW, these two are a riot. How come you always get to know the funnest people just before you leave a place?

Lynda and our dear friend and co-worker Holly. Holly is kind enough to be our sober driver this night.

Here is a link to a YouTube vid: http://youtu.be/S4Wh-n2GV1Y

Ok, our excuse for this video is that Mary has always come up with a song for every company party so it was sort of expected. But in reality, this is how low we’ll go for a cheap laugh. BTW: If you  click on “More Info”, the words are provided. I wish I could tell you who provides the warble at the end of the clip. For us it never gets old.

And thus closes another chapter in the continuing saga of Bruce and Mary’s escape to Mexico.

Thanks for visiting gentle reader. Bruce and Mary want to assure you (or a better word may be threaten) that although the venue is changing these blogs will continue, in fact next week’s post is their adios to local friends. So that being said, hasta proximo Domingo!