Day 7 - Thursday - 2-8-07

Jack and I agreed we needed to stay out of the sun today to give our burns time to heal a bit. We've been putting lots of Aloe Vera cream on but the backs of our legs and our backs are pretty tender. We donned on shorts and tee-shirts for a day in town. Breakfast at Casa Cafe with a bueatiful capachino to start! I thought their fruit plates with papaya, mango, bananas, pinapple and coconut are awesome and then I discovered Linda's "green drink"! It consists of cucumbers, cilantro, and some other things we can't remember but it is very refreshing in this heat! Rumor is they will be calling it Zeus Juice on their next menu!

We made a great purchase this morning! It is a booklet produced by Linda Fox copyrighted 2006 called "Zihuatanejo - A Guide to Casas ~Camas~Comidas y Cosas. It is filled with great information, emails, websites, and stories. Jack learned how to eat pozole like a local and we used that knowledge this evening. Thursdays ae pozoli night in Zihuatanejo! We had ours at
Tamales Y Antoles.

This day was spent well. First we found the Post Office, buying stamps and sending off the postcards I've ready to go out. Finding the Post Office took us further off the beaten path than we've been so far but in coming back we found a shoe shop with a pair of sandals that Jack liked!
A leather shop further along had a wide variety of wallets and Jack found one that suited his taste! One of my goals was to return to the mercado and get a sleeveless Dive tee-shirt for Jack that we'd seen on our first day here so we made our way down Benito Juarez to the place I'd seen the tee-shirt before. There weren't any! I hate when that happens! Since Jack actually did dive here we needed to get one! The search took most of the day!

During our Tee-shirt search we came across many neat things. One of the neatest was hand-painted ceramic sinks, toliets and all related bathroom accessories in one shop and table linens in another. Since we couldn't see getting the large ceramic items in our suitcases we settled on buying a table runner and napkins that will forever remind us of Mexico. We also picked out one for a friend who just moved into a new home. Coffee is no longer difficult to find in Zihuatanejo. They have bistro's everywhere! We stopped at one for couple fruit smoothies, and listened to jazz music as we rested. Life is good!

Just when I was explaining to Jack that when we see something we like we NEED to buy it right then because there is no guarantee we'll find it again we wandered into another Tee-shirt shop and they had the shirt we were looking for! Jack bought 2 (the price is always better).

Feeling triumphant we walked another block to the Artisans market and immediately saw a featherwieght cotton pullover jacket with the diver insignia on it with Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, Mexico too. $17 ! Jack is now well outfitted for future dive's!

We had lunch at a little place on the corner before the Artisans Market begins - an American couple were sitting at one of the tables and we asked them if the fish tacos where like "real tacos". The assured us the fish tacos were excellent and so were their ice mocachino's! Buck and Kathy said it was the best place in Zih to have lunch because it offered the most action! While there we saw another Coca Cola truck with an armed guard! They explained that the drivers collected cash on their deliveries - so they had armed guards. Another mystery solved! We visited with them for the duration of our lunch. They drive to Zihuatanejo from Sacramento, California. It's a nine day drive with the last two being between Puerto Vallarta and Zihuatanejo! They spend four months here each winter. Buck recommended the Sanka Resturant on Ejido for great beef dishes.

After a siesta, pozole' for dinner, we purchased 4 more postcards and filled them out while sitting on a bench in the public square (Zocola) on the paseo during the early evening. A couple sat on the next bench and we struck up a conversation. They are sailing their own sailboat down to South America! They stopped here to participate in SailFest. SailFest is a week long international fund raiser to raise funds for Education for the Indian Children in Guerrmo. That explains the huge number of sailboats we've seen filling the bay. They told us of being boarded by the Port Authorities also. The state is really trying to shut down drug traffic - on land and sea! Evidently the cartels have had several government officials killed this past week! The couples daughter told them this when they called home and told her how often they were being boarded and inspected. They had not heard about the heightened activity - but it does explain the heavy armour the military has been wearing in this heat!

Jack had told several people he was going to eat shrimp and smoke a Cuban Cigar while he was here! So when we came across some today he purchased a $12 Cuban Cigar and smoked it. He was determined to finish it too - since it cost $12! I don't think I'll have to worry about him wanting another one... he looked happy to grind the stubby out and toss it in the waste can!

I made my last jewelry purchases this evening. I went back to Pepe's and bought a multi-strand silver necklace and a turquoise and silver locket that will go well with the earrings I got yesterday.

We ended the day with huge cups of itlalian ice cream which we ate as we wandered about looking for a red postal (mail) box. We found it in a walkway between Nuevo Bravo and Ejido. Returning to our room by 7:30 PM. Jack is not comfortable being out after dark. The town gets very active about 8 or 9 PM based on the traffic and music we hear. We are usually ready to read in bed by then.

I have finish "Shadow War" by Richard Mitner and am reading "The Cat Who Wasn't There" by Lilian Jackson Braun now. Signe has told me about these stories for a long time. It's nice light reading afer the Mitner book on the Bush Administrations War on Terror.

Michels is noiser tonight than it has been sinc we've been here. I hear TV's and children in the halls. It's 10 pm and Jack is sound asleep. I'll read for a bit more and then retire also. Each day is tiring due to all the walking we find ourselves doing - if nothing else!