A Canadian writer's life

Friday, July 19, 2013

Helping man’s best friend, Isla Mujeres Mexico!

An un-glamorous pose indeed!

“There is no dignity here!” She said with a wry laugh, a knowing smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Once you are on the operating table, you lose all pretenses at modesty.”

A truly un-glamorous sight indeed! Legs splayed, private parts exposed for the world to see, a large dog lay unconscious on an operating table.

I had unwittingly walked into the middle of a free spay and neuter clinic organized by Isla Animals.

Odd-the-Dog

A week ago, Odd-the-Dog, our one blue-eyed, one brown-eyed beach dog that deigns to visit our house twice daily for a meal and a few pats, was in serious distress. He staggered into the kitchen and flopped down, wheezing and panting, his overheated body infested with a myriad of tiny ticks.

I quickly sent a phone text to Doctor Delfino Guevera, a local veterinary, hoping to get help for the pooch. I waited. No answer. Then I hurried two blocks down the street to his surgery, hoping to find him there.

Bonnie Hamilton & Eileen Regn

Much to my surprise, the front door was locked, but I could hear voices inside. I poked my head around the side of the building, looking for the back entrance.

The interior courtyard was abuzz with volunteers attending unconscious animals, stacked cages of waiting animals, and recovering animals.

Realizing that Delfino would be literally up to his elbows in his work, I turned to leave when Eileen Regn stopped me, asking if I had an emergency.

A few minutes discussing symptoms with Eileen and veterinary assistant Katie, a decision was made that Delfino would come to our house as soon as he closed up his current operation.

Spaying a female dog

Delfino arrived ten minutes after I returned home, medical kit in hand, and did a preliminary analysis of the problem. Odd likely had Ehrlichia, a nasty bacterial disease transmitted by ticks; this, despite my routine applications of either Revolution, Frontline, or Frontline Plus medications. Odd-the-Dog was given a shot for his fever, another shot to help clear his lungs, and a third shot for pain. He didn’t even flinch. Within hours, his condition had improved dramatically, and I was able to return to the surgery, camera in hand, to see what was happening.

Barlow and his patient

In the courtyard, our eight-year-old friend, Barlow Wareing, was quietly sitting with an unconscious female dog. She was recovering from the effects of anesthesia. This pooch also had a terrible case of Ehrlichia, and even though she was there to be spayed, the team was unable to operate. As soon as a slight cut was made on her skin, she started to bleed profusely. The operation was halted, and Barlow was assigned as her guardian until she was fully awake.

Besides Barlow volunteering, his community-minded parents, Brad and Tiffany Wareing, owners of Barlito’s Café on Hidalgo, supplied a much-appreciated assortment of complimentary mid-day meals and cold beverages for the group of helpers.

Getting the next patient ready

Inside, the tiny overheated surgery was packed with talented folks: prepping the animals, operating, or shifting them into the recovery area. Arturo Di, a dedicated veterinary from Cancun, was back, along with veterinarians-in-training Katie and Rosalee. Roberto, Amy Wilson, Cindy Phillips, Cheryl Murray-Solorz, Tiffany Sutherland, Bonnie Hamilton, Eileen Regn and a group of other enthusiastic helpers did everything imaginable to clean, comfort, and heal the animals.

Some of the hard-working volunteers

On Monday, a blood test confirmed the original diagnosis: Odd has Ehrlichia, and Missy, the older beach dog, has a different type of infection. They are both on a series of antibiotics, vitamins, and have had a super-duper-tick-killing shot to combat the horrific infestation of ticks. It’s a particularly bad year for ticks, fleas, a nasty skin-fungal problem, and ringworm. The ringworm has unfortunately spread to several young island children. Long-term islander Bonnie Hamilton said she has never seen an infestation this bad. I was truly impressed by the dedication of the volunteers working to help the island's dogs and cats.

Arturo and Delfino

I will forever carry that image in my mind of the splay-legged dog, long pink tongue dangling over his teeth, unconscious and unwitting.

It conjures up images of the time that I was in a similar situation; on an operating table, at the mercy of the mischievous medical staff.

Hasta Luego
Lynda and Lawrie

August 10th, 2013, the veterinarians advised that both Odd the Dog and Missy be euthanized. Their ages and various incurable diseases made it impossible for them to continue their free-roaming life. Inseparable friends, Odd and Missy did not want to be adopted. They enjoyed visiting their many friends, being fed, and being patted.

Odd the Dog and Missy, frequent visitors to our house

Murder. Mayhem. Revenge. Romance.

Friday, July 12, 2013

On Mexican time, mañana, mañana!

What time will you be here? It is an innocent question. The answer controls the rhythm of our days.

Internet disconnected on Friday, July 5th

The answers always sound sincere: twenty minutes, or give me five minutes and I’ll be there. Or mañana, I will be there early tomorrow morning. We wait for friends to arrive. We wait for electricians and repairmen. We are naively convinced that the person will arrive at the time he or she said.

Eventually, we realized that the word mañana doesn’t always mean tomorrow. It can mean soon, or later, or tomorrow, depending on the situation and the person. On the other hand mañana, mañana, loosely translates to tomorrow in the morning, can be a polite way of saying – it’s not going to happen, ever!

This week we have been without internet for a few days, just in our house and our neighbours’ house. The electrical utility company CFE changed out a power pole last week. On Friday, the internet provider, Cablemas, instructed the workers to move the internet lines over to the new pole. The cable was disconnected and dropped on the ground. Around lunchtime on Friday, the CFE bucket truck and linemen left. The electricity was functioning, but not the internet.

One of our many long periods of waiting for a parade

Our neighbours depend on the internet for their online work; we use it for telephone, emails, news, and amusement. They have phoned Cablemas every day asking: When will the repairs happen? Lawrie and I visited the Cablemas office a few times, asking: when?

The polite smiling answer varied: Sunday morning, later on Monday, or Tuesday afternoon, or Wednesday morning. This is day six! And still no sign of the repair crew. Maybe we should pay our Cablemas bill on Mexican time – mañana, mañana.

Family and friends waiting for a parade.

Another frequent question is: What time does it start? Now there’s a loaded question. As well-trained, polite Canadians, we arrive at the scheduled start time. If an invitation says it starts at seven in the evening, we are there at seven in the evening. If the parade is scheduled to start at three-thirty in the afternoon, we are there with expectant smiles on our faces, cameras ready and waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. We have lingered on a sidewalk or relaxed in our air-conditioned car for up to three hours before the anticipated parade finally gets underway. Fortunately, a supply of cold beer is always at hand to pass the time more pleasantly.

Eight months and finally a renewal for immigrant visa

But our most frustrating example of Mexican-time happened with the annual renewal of my FM3 visa, allowing me to remain in Mexico year-round. The renewal date was October 31^st, 2012.

Our lawyer friend, Tony Poot, handles the renewal for us every year. It’s just easier that way, except this time. Mexico City made a mistake on the FM3, registering me as a working resident.

To rectify the mistake took an excruciating eight months, with our lawyer visiting the Cancun Immigration office every two weeks, hearing the same excuses. Come back next week. Come back next Monday. Next Friday. We are too busy. We have a lot of applications to process. And on and on. Finally, on June 26^th, the visa was processed with a renewal date of - you guessed it, October 31^st, 2013. The immigration laws have recently changed, and the next visa is a Permanent Resident card, good for up to ten years. Sign me up!

Wednesday, July 10th - internet!

As a follow-up to our internet problem, we again stopped by the Cablemas office at midday on Wednesday. Lawrie popped in to chat to Delores, who handles payments, repairs, and complaints. When will the internet be fixed? He asked. She was embarrassed. She didn’t know it still hadn’t been repaired. Ten minutes. She promised. And it was!

Living on Mexican time is frustrating, and it is fun. Frustrating when we need service, but the person or the company is on Mexican time. Fun when we don’t really care because we are retired, and living in paradise.

Hasta Luego

Lynda and Lawrie

Murder. Mayhem. Revenge. Romance.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Piñatas – upping the fun factor at a fiesta

Barlow the Birthday Boy takes a turn

“Batter up!” Oh, wait; wrong culture.

Taking a careful and considered aim with a brightly decorated stick, the birthday boy swung hard at the piñata. Thud! It sailed into the air, dented, but intact. A family friend manipulated a rope and pulley system, tethering the piñata. His experienced hands jiggled it, pulling it higher, dropping it back down, taunting, teasing.

Come on! Hit it. Hit it. The crowd clapping and singing: Dale! Dale! Dale!

Paul teasing the older kids with the height

With giggles and shrieks of laughter, a couple of dozen small but very enthusiastic hitters took turns bashing at not just one, but two, birthday piñatas. Bashing until the candy showered onto the ground, then diving into the pile to scoop up a share of the booty. It was a hilarious sight.

Most of the parents of the various youngsters were also at the birthday party. When I was of birthday party age, I don’t remember my parents attending any festivities involving shrieking, over-sugared children. They wisely said they had to work, or were busy with chores, or doing something really important. Any excuse would do. Here it’s a festive family affair.

Oscar - putting up the second piñata

Colourful piñatas in fanciful shapes are the centrepieces of birthdays and celebrations in Mexico and most of Latin America. The idea is thought to have originated in China, but many countries, such as India, the Philippines, Japan, and even Denmark, have similar customs.

In the thirteenth century, the famous explorer-traveller Marco Polo recorded the Chinese customs of covering pottery figures of cows or buffaloes with pretty papers and decorations. During the New Year’s festivities, the figures were struck with sticks, and good luck seeds were spilled on the ground. Over the centuries, the shapes of the containers and the rules for hitting the piñata have changed dramatically.

Woo-hoo - good hit!

Europeans eventually linked the piñata with Lenten celebrations. The first Sunday of Lent became Piñata Sunday, derived from the Italian word pignatta, meaning fragile pot. Traditional piñatas were originally made from a clay pot called la olla and stuffed with treats or fruits. The Lenten celebration slowly transformed into a fiesta, the Dance of the Piñata.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Spanish missionaries brought their piñata traditions with them to the New World. However, the Aztec priests already had a similar custom to honour the god of war, Huitzilopochtli. They placed a clay pot adorned with colourful feathers and filled with tiny treasures on a pole in the temple. When broken with a stick or club, the treasures fell to the feet of the god's image as an offering. Much later, the playful Mayans changed the piñata ceremony to a game where blindfolded players hit a clay pot suspended by a string.

A lady-like hitting style!

At the birthday party we attended, no one was blindfolded, and the piñata was manipulated with a rope and pulley, making it more difficult for the older children and easier for the really little ones. As each person took a turn, the party guests sang a short song. When the song was finished, so was the hitter’s turn until everyone had a chance to bash the piñata. The turns were repeated until someone broke open the cavity containing the treats, spilling them on the ground.

The laughter and giggles of the players made the day. Piñatas are a great way to up the fun factor at a birthday party.

The big payoff! Candy!

Lawrie and his Spiderman cookie!

Hasta Luego
Lynda and Lawrie

Here’s one version of the piñata song:

Dale, dale, dale,
no pierdas el tino;
Porque si lo pierdes
pierdes el camino.
Ya le diste una,
ya le diste dos;
Ya le diste tres,
y tu tiempo se acabó

Hit it, hit it, hit it (or "go, go, go")
don’t lose your aim
because if you lose it (your aim)
you will lose the path.
You've already hit it once
you’ve already hit it twice
you’ve already hit it three times
and your time is over

Strategy session

Murder. Mayhem. Revenge. Romance.