You can’t just lay around the pool all day!

At least I can’t.  You can see our very nice pool in the photo below, with our casa in the background.  My propensity to be a non pool and non beach guy is why we end up in mountainous places like Oaxaca and San Miguel de Allende.  Oaxaca is at 5100 feet and I would estimate our casa is 2 or 3 hundred feet higher than that.  We do go to beach places and have enjoyed our stays in Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan, but I am good on the beach for about 30 minutes at a time. 

Then you need to be doing something!  Explore, go for a drive, check out new markets, visit archeological sites, or even go shopping.  Sometimes in my writings I give Mary Ann a bad time about being the world’s greatest shopper.  But, I even sometimes like to shop for interesting items, art objects and handicrafts.  Our selections (usually when expensive) are most often joint decisions.  When I tire of shopping, I just find a nice place in the shade to sit down, and then read if I have a book, or people watch, which is a great pastime. 

Here at El Studio, the pool is more than just a place to swim.  In the evening it becomes a social area for all the people staying in the compound, as it is a joint pool for all the casas and casitas.  You grab a beer or other adult drink of choice and wander down to the pool side.  I have, of course, learned all of my conversational skills from Les Cooper, so I am willing to talk to anyone, about anything.  My legal training tends to encourage me to ask questions, sometimes to Mary Ann’s embarrassment, as I do not fear asking personal questions.

The pool social life has been fun.  We have met fashion designers who were with Adele, from Oregon, who is their boss.  Bill & Mary, who own one of the casa’s, are from Chicago and he is a retired architect.  They arrived here on their first visit at the time of the Oaxacan protests in 2006.  They bought their casa in the month (December) that the protests ended. That discussion, and its continuing consequences for Oaxaca, has come up several times. 

Last night a new couple arrived who are from Anacortes, Washington where they house-sit a home on the beach (what a deal, they have been house-sitting for over two years).  Penny and Phil spend much of their life sailing and have owned 36 foot sailing catamarans in exotic locations around the world.  Presently, their boat is moored in Anacortes in Washington State’s San Juan islands, and they are concentrating their sailing in British Columbia and Alaska waters. This afternoon we met Paul and Stephanie, and their 1 ½ year old.  He works for Canadian public radio in Baffin Island.  Boy, do they need the warm weather!  I can’t wait for more visitors to show up.  Maybe they could even be from Leavenworth or Wenatchee!

 

The pool with our casa in the background

 

Quirky Living Note

 

I like to get the local news – As a regular user of the internet, I try to find a newspaper written in English in the countries we visit.  Oaxaca, does not seem to have such a functioning entity, so I am using a Mexico City newspaper (ironically called The News) for my Mexican news.  You can access it at: http://www.thenews.com.mx/.