Guatemala Bound

Heading to Guatemala City on New Year's Eve to study Spanish and live with a local family in Antigua for 2 weeks.  We leave Calgary, Alberta that evening and fly all night.  We will be picked up by someone from the school early on January 1, 1011 and start out the year there.

Not looking forward to the airports in the USA as we are flying through Los Angeles and have heard so many horror stories about the mandatory security scanner screenings and such.   We are looking forward to learning more first hand about Guatemala and exploring Antigua and enjoying a bit warmer weather.

Here's hoping it all goes well.

In Merida!

Well here we are in a Mexican homestay with Sophia through the ECORA Spanish language school where my husband is studying for 25 hours per week.  We are really enjoying the warm hospitality and working hard at picking up as much Spanish as we can... me through immersion in a conversational mode and my husband through the formal schooling plus the immersion experience.  Hard work!

Fun to trade recipes and try to understand one another.  I am spending my days doing yoga and also studying on Rosetta Stone on my computer and enjoying the weather!!!  This weekend we will probably get out and about a bit more.  Gets pitch black dark before 6 p.m. so days go by quickly.  We are not into walking about in the dark as yet.

Not sure where we will be after January 16th... obvious that rentals can be found here in Merida that are furnished and affordable.  Now we just have to figure out what we actually want to do... stay or go looking about other areas of the Yucatan yet.  Mind is willing but body says no to date due to the after effects of traveling with long plane and bus rides playing havoc with my back.

Counting the Days....

Tomorrow is Lisle's last day of work in a 33 + year career ..... wahoo!  We are counting down the days until we fly south!

Winter Winter Everywhere....

Oh my,  we were having such a nice long fall without too many major cold spells or inches and inches of snow.  However, that has all changed with the more recent weather and blizzard conditions here in Alberta.

Don't like it one bit..... cold aggravates me both physically and mentally.  I am just frozen and cannot get warm!

That said there remains much to be thankful for as we have sunny skies today.  Clear and cold.  A typical Canadian winter day.

Counting down to January 1!

Plans for Mexico

So found a condo in Playa del Carmen for the month of January... subletting a bedroom with private bathroom and use of the house and condo pool. We are renting from a fellow who happens to be an Albertan. Small world. He is also a scuba diving instructor. So it will be interesting to share his space. Now I need to find a school for Lisle to take his Spanish classes... not sure what I will do with my time but I am sure I'll keep busy enough hanging around the pool, studying Spanish on my computer and using the wifi. The condo is only 5 blocks from the beach and snorkeling opportunities are supposed to be easily found.

We also have booked March in Merida. Found a small apartment at the back of a Canadian couple's property... will share their pool too but still have some privacy with our own little patio. They are located in a Mexican neighborhood without expats so that will be a new experience for us too.

We will be cooking our own food and spending as little as possible. We will be using our two feet and a heart beat to get around except when we use the public bus systems. We didn't intended to rent from Canadians ..... but so far it seems to have worked out that way. I am sure it will also be nice to have that in common. We tend to be friendly folks.

So February so far is a flexible month for us to play more by ear as to where to go and where to stay. . Ahhh adventures.

Rentals

Well now our challenge is to find "affordable" accommodation. Looks as if Cozumel and Playa del Carmen are just too expensive to spend 3 months in. Maybe we can spend a few days on the way home if we have enough money left. Think we may just head up to Merida right off the bat. We viewed a house last year that we really liked and would love to rent it if we could. Have been trying to reach the owner. If they can't find him or it is not available perhaps we will just stay in the Nomadas hostel for a few days after we get to Merida. That way we can look around while there.

In the meantime, I am looking on the Internet and there is so much for sale in Merida but not much for rent in our meager price range. Most everything we would like rents for what we have in total to live on per month.... so that is not going to work. Hoping to be able to find something more reasonable and likely what we can afford is just not advertised on the internet.

Still looking to take Spanish too. Wish I could afford the Habla Language school in Merida as it has unconventional teaching methods which might be a way I could pick up something. Lisle will take at least 4 weeks somewhere.

So the search is continues.....Publish Post

Flight Booked!

After all the angst over where to go we decided to let the dollar make the decision. So Cancun here we come on January 1st. Got a return flight there for both of us with insurance for less than $1,000 CAD. That price beat out Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama as we would have had to spend that and more for just one of us. Someday I hope we can see those places. For now we will go to Mexico.

So still looking around to see where Lisle can spend 4 weeks studying Spanish. Not sure if we will head to Cozumel or stay in Playa del Carmen or head to Merida right away. Lots of options to check in to still.