Heather in Paradise

Bomberos’ Three Legged Race Video

heatherinparadise — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:02:57 +0000

I know it’s been months now since the Three Legged Race/Bar Crawl Fundraiser for the Riviera Maya Bomberos, but I’ve just now been given the resulting video of the event, made by my talented friend, Ken Brownlee, of Visual Media Productions. Can you spot Sara and me?

If you’d like to learn more about the history and current mission/goals of the Riviera Maya Bomberos organization, here is a video of the incomparable Comandante/Director Brian Borjesson

Thanks again, from the bottom of my heart, for your continued support of the Riviera Maya Bomberos. Hopefully we will never need them, but it’s reassuring to know we’ve got them on our side.

Chicago Architectural Tour

heatherinparadise — Sun, 10 May 2009 22:14:55 +0000

I’ve just returned from a week-long trip to my beloved Chicago. My friend Sara joined me and, as it was her first trip, we decided to do something touristy that I’d always wanted to do, but never had. We took an architectural boat tour down the Chicago River. We were both really impressed with the tour; I especially could not believe things I’d walked by a hundred times without noticing.

Chicago is a beautiful city and holds a place in my heart that no other city in the world will ever begin to touch.

Marina Towers

Had no idea there were water taxis in Chicago.

I thought it was cool the way the other buildings were reflected in the glass of this one.

I find this one strangely gorgeous.

To paraphrase Sharon Olds, “The el still slides by with that ease that made me bitter when I wanted all things hard as your death was hard.” Amazing, the heady mix of memories that can be conjured up when witnessing something you find incredibly beautiful.

River City condominiums. Super weird, but interesting homes.

Good luck trying to get people to call it Willis Tower, jackasses.

Trump Tower. Not as heinous as I thought it would be. In fact, I kind of like it.

Trump Tower juxtaposed with its architectural anti-twin, the Wrigley Building. It works somehow, right?

I was pretty damned cold for much of this tour.

I love you, Chicago, for all you have to offer and for every single ghost of my life I’ve left you to care for until I return.

Is everyone just super mad at me?

heatherinparadise — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:32:23 +0000

All four of you still checking this blog, I mean? I really have nothing to say about my absence; I’ve been really busy, but also just really not feeling it. I’ve got months of backed-up blogs for you, SCADS of them, so many you’re going to tire of me, and now that in about a week I will be fully caught up on work for this lower-than-low season, I will have time to write them.

I’m just back from a week in Chicago, where I had important banking business to do to help make it easier to transfer/receive client funds, but I also managed to fit in some fun stuff.

Thanks to the genius that is Ben Wahhh at Deluxe Tattoo in Chicago, my Virgen de Guadalupe tattoo is finally adorning my left arm. I couldn’t be happier with it.

Several years ago, I decided to get this particular tattoo to honor my time in Mexico, and when thinking of an image that represented Mexico to me, nothing was more perfect than the Virgin. Plus, I’ve always liked religious imagery (although I am not religious myself) and well, look at her…she’s gorgeous. Another thing I love about this tattoo is how it is already bridging a gap between me and the Mexican people I live around. It’s a great conduit for conversation, smiles, and positive comments; I’ve been home 2 days and have already talked about it so much.

By the way, now is the time to come to Playa del Carmen, airfare is GREAT and this flu nonsense is under control. I have my own theories about why all this was blown so far out of proportion, but I’ll keep them to myself for now.

Back soon as I can be, I promise. I miss you like crazy.

New Local H video

heatherinparadise — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:55:05 +0000

I know how much I owe you guys, but unfortunately I’m not in any position right now to make it up to you. I’ll be back the absolute minute I can be.

In the meantime, enjoy my friends’ new video. It cracked me up.

Local H, Machine Shed Wrestling

You’re totally busted, dude.

heatherinparadise — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:28:49 +0000

This morning, after my weekly hour-long wait in the bank line, I hopped onto one of the tiny little colectivos to head back to the office. These particular colectivos are miniscule vans with seats around the inside rear cargo area and standing room in the center aisle. These vans are NOT ideal for anyone over, say, 5′5″ tall. Needless to say, when I get into and out of these “vans,” it’s like watching a clown at the circus getting out of a mini car.

The colectivo was pretty full when I got on and, as usual, there was blatant gawking at the rare appearance of a gringa on the route. I stood in the center aisle, but a woman tapped me and indicated a small space on the seat next to her.

Not wanting to be rude and decline her offer, and also hoping to straighten my back and remove my head from the roof, I squished myself next to her. In the process, I accidentally butted up against the legs of the teen boy to my left, who immediately jerked his knees away from my ass.

I heard the man across from me say, in Spanish, “She’s bigger than Mexicans,” with a sly nudge nudge/wink wink tone.

I looked right in his eyes and replied, in Spanish, “Yes, I have a big ass.”

His eyes got as big as saucers as he said, “You understand Spanish?!” Everyone around him laughed, as did I, and we chatted for the next 10 blocks.

Always an adventure.

Last call before Sara and Heather drink too much alcohol!!

heatherinparadise — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:57:21 +0000

We’re just three days away from the annual Three Legged Race/Bar Crawl to benefit the Riviera Maya Bomberos.

The struggling economy has proved difficult for fundraising this year, and it’s fairly apparent we’re not going to meet or exceed last year’s donation total, but we’re still pretty stoked that we’ve raised a total of 1,422 usd to date!!! Yay, you people!

If any of you are in town, you MUST come down to La Ranita Bar, part of La Rana Cansada hotel on Calle 10 between avenidas 5 and 10, starting at 7 pm. Will this be the year that Heather’s “no-puke streak” ends? Only time will tell.

There’s still time to help our hardworking, life-risking firefighters earn money for needed equipment and training! No donation is too big or too small, every single centavo helps.

And remember, the highest individual donor gets to go on a date with Sara and Heather!

If you’d like to sponsor our team and raise money for Firemen who desperately need you, please donate by going to www.PayPal.com and clicking on the link that says “send money.” Then just follow the prompts to donate directly to us by using the following email address:

info@caribesunrise.com

Please be sure to write in your comments/subject line “Three Legged Race.” We will keep you updated with donation totals.

For further information or to register your team please call: 984-135-1233 or e-mail:

kegsbar@hotmail.com

We are also taking business/corporate sponsors!! Contact us at info@caribesunrise.com or editor@playamayanews.com if you’d like to be mentioned on Playa Maya News, Playa.info, and Heather in Paradise!!

Ask an Expat! The catch-up edition.

heatherinparadise — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:13:23 +0000

The past couple of months have found me really, really busy at work and I’ve neglected the emails I’ve gotten from my readers. Today, I caught up quite a bit, so am now able to answer these mails.

Welcome to the 2nd installment of Ask an Expat!

Q.
My family and I have been to Playa before, love it there, will be back this week. You have a great website about it; one thing I was wondering, though– do you know if there is anywhere in Playa to get the NY Times or even the Miami Herald?

Also, do you have a link to the property mgmnt website you mentioned?
It really is a beautiful place….

Thank you for your mail! I don’t know of any location in Playa that sells the NY Times, I wish there was! There is a Miami Herald-Cancun edition, but it’s pretty useless, in my opinion. Mostly advertising about Cancun destinations or real estate.

You can find my business website at www.caribesunrise.com

I am thinking about moving down there from California but am getting mixed messages from people regarding finding work if you are an American. The person who gave me your email address said it will be very hard if not impossible to get a job and that I will run out of money and probably end up having to move back home.

I am 40, I have a girlfriend that is about 27, who has been living in Cancun and now Playa del Carmen for the past year and she says that she gets jobs fairly easy and resorts and tourist places want Americans to work there and they get the work permits for you and just take a little money out of each check to cover the costs. right now she is selling timeshares and although she is not making great $$ she has made enough to stay a whole year so far.. Is is possible to make $$$ or do most people come down there and fail??

Do you have any tips or suggestions???? Thanks

It is not easy to find a job here as a foreigner, but it is not impossible. You have to be persistent and dedicated, however.

You should make sure to save enough money that you could live on for at least 3-6 months while you search for a job. If you’re willing to work in timeshares, it will likely be easier for you to find a job. That wasn’t an option for me, but I did luck into a job simply by keeping my ears open, participating in local forums, and being in the right place at the right time. Now I own my own business, though it is still not successful enough for me to not work for others.

My best advice is to do your research and really prepare yourself for what living here entails. Dealing with immigration is a necessary, but awful part of life here. It’s expensive and frustrating, and not all employers are willing to help cover that cost. I’m unsure of what the housing market is like in Cancun, but here in Playa, rent is high. Be prepared to work 6 days a week.

I think it’s most important that you have realistic expectations about what life in “paradise” is like. People find it hard to believe when I’ve said that at times, living here can be quite hard. Often they roll their eyes and say, sarcastically, poor baby! They can’t believe that I can go 6 months and not step foot on 5th avenue…or on the beach. Sad, but true is the fact that, apart from yesterday, I had not been to the beach in months . Like most of us here, I work 6 days a week and on Sunday, typically attend to the little household chores and errands that don’t get done during the week, so it can be difficult to fit in beach time. Furthermore, one of the things we agreed to upon moving here was a reduced standard of living and low cash flow, so we stick to things we can afford, which leaves out most of the activities that tourists enjoy.

If you still want to move here, after you’ve thought long and hard about all of these things and done your research on the various forums, then sell your crap and come on down. It’s true that many people don’t make it and pack up and leave, but the tenacious, realistic ones will make it. Cream rises, baby.

Ok, two more questions tomorrow. Ciao, bellos!

Buenaas! Buenaaas! Buenaaaaas!

heatherinparadise — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:30:49 +0000

Almost 5 years of life in Mexico has changed some things that I at first thought strange into completely normal daily occurences: Cooking with propane gas tanks, not flushing toilet paper, paying bills by waiting in line, etc. These are things I no longer even think about, just as I no longer hear the rooster crowing or the roof dog barking.

Some things I still find unusual and still notice, but enjoy, like the vendors who move down the street blowing whistles or honking a horn, trying to sell strawberries or sharpen your kitchen knives for you. These things bring up fairly romantic images for me of the old-timey tinker with his pack mule full of necessary wares. If I want something, I run out to catch him. If I don’t, I let him walk on by.

But there is one common practice here that I absolutely dislike and don’t think I will ever get used to.

Several times a day, a stranger will come to my gate and yell out, “BUENAS!” If I don’t answer right away, which I don’t, they wait a few seconds and yell again, “BUENAAS!” When I STILL ignore them (and by now I’m not moving or breathing and trying to hunch away from the windows they’re crouching down to try to look in from my front gate), they let out with a long, grating, drawn-out, “BUENAAAAAAS!”

I used to go out to greet each person, but now I don’t. Why? Because I learn from experience. I do not want to sell the van that is parked in my yard. I do not know the person who is on the letter you have to deliver (and btw, that address is not even CLOSE to this one). I do not want to discuss Jesus and I do not want to witness Jehovah. I cannot give you a ride to work, nor do I know how much the house next door is renting for.

What I find most distressing about this is the constant interruption to my day/work, as well as the fact that my dogs go crazy barking for the entire ten or more minutes the person will stand there. Today it has been almost a constant stream of strangers hanging on my gate and yelling at me.

Can anyone help me find this in Spanish?

Or better yet, how about this one?

Now let’s not get me started on the people who come to pick up their friends at 6.30 am and blare their horn or stand outside their friend’s window yelling up, “Francisca!! Franciiiiiscaaaa!!!”

You Are Powerless To Resist

heatherinparadise — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:01:23 +0000

Since my BFF Sara already started a “detox” diet and I started one today, we decided together to have a “last stand” at her house last Saturday. Hilarity ensued.

When I saw the photos we took of our wine/Almond Joy/gummi bear/Hershey’s bacchanalia, I couldn’t help but think that these photos would show all of our Three Legged Race sponsors just what an Olympics-quality team they’re standing behind.

For anyone considering sponsoring us, don’t miss your chance to win a date with these chicas by being the highest individual donor; they truly know how to have a good time. Our friend Maureen saw these photos and said we remind her of Lucy and Ethel. That was one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever gotten…Sara and I crack each other up.

I don’t feeeel so good.

I’m not sleeping, I’m just resting my eyes.

Do we have anything in our teeth?

info@caribesunrise.com

Please be sure to write in your comments/subject line “Three Legged Race.” We will keep you updated with donation totals.

For further information or to register your team please call: 984-135-1233 or e-mail:

kegsbar@hotmail.com

I’m even getting a ring

heatherinparadise — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:47:42 +0000

As I’ve mentioned, M. and I got engaged. We don’t have a lot of money and so we didn’t plan on my getting an engagement ring, but when M. realized that I’m not the “big rock” type of girl and we started looking at rings I like, he sort of made the mistake of mentioning I could get an engagement ring.

We found it. I’m so in love with it. It reminds me of antique, art-deco type of jewelry and I can pretend it was handed down to me from family.

I’m in correspondence with the independent jeweler on etsy (my FAVORITE site!) to see if we can get this delivered by May.

OMG, I’m such a girl.

It’s a 1.65 carat sapphire (my birthstone) surrounded by diamonds, set in white gold. I’m embarrassed at how pretty I think it is.

Check out the jeweler’s store on etsy: EidelPrecious Her work is GORGEOUS and the prices are fair.