A New Set of Wheels

Relax! It's only a new set of two wheels, not four. My car is still in the shop.

In my new quest for fitness, sports, and most of all, independent local travel, I purchased a "new to me" bicycle! It is frustrating that I have bikes in the USA, but when I drove down over a year ago, the car was packed and I chose to wait to bring one until I returned a few months later for the remaining orchestra gigs I had contracted. But then covid came and the borders closed and the gigs cancelled and I was unable to return to the USA to retrieve it. Now that I "could" return, my car is unable to make the trip and the border has become a haven of bandits looking to rob incoming cars regardless of driver nationality or luxury car model (so I could theoretically leave Mexico safely, but who could say regarding the return). New-to-me bike it is then, after impatiently complaining for over a year that I miss my bike. 

Ironically, the new-to-me bike is the same one I have at home. That wasn't at all intentional, but is kind of funny in after sight. It's a different color with slightly different components, but it's the same brand and the same model and some of the same components. Luckily for me, I paid less than half of what I paid so many years ago, which I see as only befitting since the bike is now that much older. It's still a fantastic beginner bike. 

Technically I'm no beginner. I've logged many many hours on that bike, crashing and burning, nearly dying, and always leaving with exciting stories to tell, or at the very least, extremely muddy, sometimes bloody, and very dirty. There was a period of time I spent 3-4 hours a day on that bike hacking away at various technical difficulties on the Austin Greenbelt. But hey, I still like the bike even if I have outgrown it's capabilities and I'm happy to keep riding another one vs not riding a bike at all or riding a poorly constructed one.

Considering the old bike has withstood the test of time (i.e. it is Ronda proof-thank you Trek!), I'm looking forward to battering this one hard and reselling it in a few years when my visa expires. I'm very happy with the deal I got so hopefully I will recoup much of what I just paid for it.

I'm also very excited to now have the freedom to go much further, must faster and spend less of my day walking. Not that I don't enjoy walking, but I'd like the option to choose whether I spend hours walking to the store or not, or have the ability to be gone for hours and go to many stores vs just one.

The next weekend is the Easter celebration weekend. In Mexico it starts the Thursday before Easter Sunday, so I'm praying that brother Murphy goes on vacation early so I can get my car back in good working order and go mountain biking!

Here's to getting back in the saddle soon!

Meet my new Trek 4500

Sitting pretty in the sunshine.

Of course 😂 Denny Crane got to ride along. I finally used my Timbuk 2 San Fransisco backpack for it's actual bike-riding purpose!
Don't worry, Denny Crane was safely secured inside and as far as I know, he didn't cause any rubbernecking accidents!

La Pasarela (aka The Mexican Catwalk)

Today and yesterday were busy busy busy days.

Why? You ask.

Well, I'm assuming my "brother" Murphy took a much needed vacation and I had a moment of good luck. Amazing luck actually!

Today was my first "job" in over a year. It was only an hour and half with a day and hours of prep beforehand, but I have made the first steps to becoming a model in Mexico.

I woke up this morning at 3:00am, 5:00am, 5:30am, 6:00am, 6:10am, 6:20am, and at 6:30am I finally got up and got ready to leave. Yes, I was slightly paranoid that I wouldn't wake up to my two alarms so I never really slept, but that's what coffee's for right?!

Super crazy lucky for me, the event took place only a 5 minute walk from home, so I didn't need my car and could actually take the job. What amazing luck in such a big city!

I showed up on time at 7:00am and walked around waiting for everyone to arrive and trying to take in the situation that:

• I was at my first job in over year. 
• I was at my first catwalk in Mexico.
• I was at my first modeling gig in Mexico.
• I was at work!

The picture above is the "catwalk". With covid, they had fewer people, spread out with extra space, and only 3 models instead of a standard dozen or more. Usually the department store would have a giant production in a commercial space, but because of covid, they're doing small private productions. This was the first event. I can only pray that I get to do all the rest of them!

At around 7:10am, everyone (but one model) was there so we began hair and makeup. I'm not a very girly girl, but I do enjoy having my hair and makeup done and with covid for the past year, I've not gone to a salon of any kind. It was a real treat to be pampered as such. The girls that did our hair and makeup weren't very professional imo, as I told them my hair doesn't hold a curl, and they tried, and tried, and tried again, and by the end I had a few waves at the bottom. Oh well. 

The girl that did my makeup also mistook my paler skin tone for a pink-based European canvas. I do admit that it's rare when I find a makeup artist that actually figures out my native American roots and does everything in peach shades instead of pink. So my makeup looked more hooker in my opinion than natural classy woman, but hey, whatever they're happy with. I'm there to get painted, primped, and sell clothes off my body (ok, that sounds very hooker, but you know what I mean!).

After hair and makeup were through, one of the directors took the 3 models to show us a triangle formation walk. We practiced it and he gave me directions on what he wanted for the brand (slow, casual, no crossed feet). We left the runway to head back for clothes prep and to meet our dressers. (Dressers are people who help you dress and undress very fast because you have to run between walks.) We got dressed for the first walk and the 2nd director tried to explain a whole new walk to me. I was so confused. He tried to explain several times and still I had to ask the other girls and even after that, I felt like I was winging it. I understood all the words in Spanish, but together, they meant nothing in English. How frustrating!

I did my thing and walked the walk and even had audience members applauding and nodding approval. 

My head was all awhirl with trying to remember the specific walk patterns, the specific walk notes, the specific walk poses and especially, trying to listen to the host talk in Spanish and respond appropriately in my walk. Whew! I need to study Spanish more, that's for sure! But it was all a whirl of live performance and I loved being back in the pressure of the spotlight, to be back on a stage. I wasn't performing music (and I miss that terribly), but I was back in my element; an element of being watched, being the performer, being the part of a whole, being an artist.

This was the first look I modeled. I didn't have time to take more pictures once the show started sadly.

If you've followed my blog for a while, you'll already know I've modeled in the US for years, but this is the first time I was contracted to model in Mexico. 

Posing at home.

I sincerely hope it's not the last!!

After the event, selfie shot :)

Loving me some Denny Crane after the show. He was happy to see me come home!

Tequila: Been There, Didn't Taste That

Tequila!

The town, silly. Okay, the drink too.

Me and Denny Crane not waiting in the long line for the photo in front of the sign.
If you drink enough tequila, the sign looks the same backwards as forwards anyway!

The town of tequila is famous for being the first to cultivate the agave plant for the tequila liquor. 

Everything in the puebla is decorated with agave plants. I particularly liked this fence arrangement.

Even the street grates were agave plants! Vibrams included :)

It's a mere 60 km (37 miles) to Tequila, Mexico, but it will take you over an over with all the traffic to get there from Guadalajara. 

I'd never been to Tequila, because covid started just after I moved here, but Monday, I decided to take the trip. Everything is open in MX more or less, so I thought maybe I could find cozy corners to people watch from afar and wander the side streets.

I had images of tequila bars lining the streets serving nothing more than lots of tequila and chips and dip; ideas of tequila tasting rooms in the various tequila distilleries all within walking distance in the small town; rows of agave plants just off the main streets.

Boy was I wrong!

I am pretty sure I walked every single street in Tequila within a 3 block radius of the central square. (I don't think there were many more blocks past that). 

Central Plaza

There were small places tucked away to purchase specialty tequila drinks either in a plastic bag or in a souvenir pottery mug. I'd already tried several of the drinks on previous occasions, so I went with a new one and told the man easy on the salt. For sure, I got my daily dose of salt that day! Wow! I couldn't even finish it. But on the upside, I have a very poorly made tourist cup I can use for the next few months until the detergent washes off all the paint on it and it's recycled to another purpose.

Posing with my not-so-delicious beverage in "front" of the back of a tequila tour 'bus'.

Through all the city streets I also searched and searched for a small family restaurant that appeared to have cooks that at least washed their hands and had a spare table. Never found one. The number of small restaurants on the side streets were practically nill. The restaurants were focused almost entirely around the central plaza with a plethora of taco and hotdog stands littering the plaza and also taking residency in the adjacent enclosed marketplace. 

Plant lined pedestrian street

Um, what? 

Beautiful, bright colored buildings

The beautiful church at the center of the plaza was a nice respite from the sun and of all the cathedrals I've visited in all my travels, this one had truly unique floors!

What interesting wood flooring. It's rare to be caught by the floor in a cathedral, but it sure drew my eye. How gorgeous with all the colors and patterns.

Look! My mask matches the ceiling art!

In my desperate search for lunch/dinner, I came across a street vender selling flavored and unflavored (natural) crickets. He asked if I wanted to try. Well, of course! He practically grabbed my hand (not sure how clean either hands were..) and dumped several unflavored crickets inside. Then he poured a red salsa, some salt, and lastly he squeezed some fresh lime juice over it. I downed it and it was delicious! Really really really tasty. I was all set to buy a bag freshly prepared for the wandering road when I found out how much for how little I would get. I moved on, stomach still growling. Below is a picture gallery showcasing my cricket eating delight. Enjoy!

Protein for the day

All or nothing

mmm I like these!

Chomp chomp

All gone!

Unaware that all the restaurants would close by 5pm, I ended up at one of the largest tourist traps right on the square. I was prepared for terrible food for high prices and they delivered. I ordered enchiladas that arrived cold (not a little warm still but completely cold like from the fridge) and hard like they'd been made the day before and the staff had just poured sauce over them to serve them to me. I would have sent the dish back in the US it was that bad. It also had no flavor. It didn't have flavor I didn't like. It had no flavor. 

It looks significantly better than it tasted.

On the plus side, I also got to try a local dish called aguachiles that usually features shrimpies, cucumbers, purple onions, sometimes avocado, and a spicy lime juice soup-like base that it all sits in. This restaurant had all those ingredients and added sliced pineapple, sesame seeds, and a pleasantly spicy green chile sauce/paste. I've tried numerous aguachiles (they make them green, red, black, and with a variety of seafood sometimes as well), but never this combination. I loved it! I will definitely be on the lookout for pineapple aguachile in the future! The combination of the sweet from the pineapple with the spicy of the sauce and the tang of the onions blended quite beautifully.

YUMMY!

I also ordered the obligatory guacamole. It wasn't bad and I learned I really enjoy radishes in my guac. Who knew?!?!

As for the tequila tasting rooms, that's a thing...that you have to pay a tour guide to take you to grr. I asked directly at one of the distilleries, and was told you must book in advance and go with a group. Seriously? Guess they're not interested in my money after all. 

Tequila tour "bus"

So after a long afternoon in the hot (but delicious) sun, wandering pretty much the entire "downtown" of Tequila, I left mostly disappointed. Mostly, because after searching for some fresh churros after dinner to brighten my taste bud's mood, I couldn't find any. Did you know that apparently, downtown Tequila turns into a French/American colony at night? The food stands in the central plaza area only sell crepes or hotdogs. There you go. I did find about 6 taco stands all in a row just a block off the main square but had to travel several blocks to find the worst churros I've had in Mexico. The oil was too hot so the outside was overcooked and the inside was still uncooked. Appropriate ending to my day.

Lit up streets at night

It may sound like all doom and gloom toward the end, but I really did actually enjoy the day. It was nice to get out and go someplace. It was nice to "travel". It was nice to explore. It was nice to feel the vitamin D on my skin. And it was nice to be someplace new.

Will I be craving a prompt return to Tequila? Probably not. But I can now say, been there, didn't taste that!

Obligatory 'selfie' pic of Denny at dinner!

In the Hands of a Stranger

Today I reached out to the mechanic (because he didn't reach out to me at all yesterday and all morning today). Found out he had no luck yesterday. All the parts he found are the same quality as what I already have. Apparently he started looking further afield and told me he found someone in Mexico City that claims to have the part "almost new" that will sell it with shipping included for the price I'd pay for a brand new one in the States. It's a hefty sum, but without it, I don't have my car.  

Granted, for all the work already done on my car, I did a price comparison and checked all the invoice items to verify that I was not being charged US prices and that there wasn't anything 'extra' going on. It looks like I've got a good mechanic. He's not easy to deal with if you're not there in person and he definitely works on 'Mexico Time', but I can't realistically complain about the price and the work so far. 

Now I wait. There is a stranger in Mexico City claiming he has the part in like new condition and will ship it to my mechanic. My future in my car depends on this stranger. Sure do hope he's honest and ships quickly! 

To ease my pain, I made and promptly devoured half a batch of almond oatmeal cookies. Used a combination of maple syrup and honey as the sweetener and added chia seeds. Tasty little things. Really helped my anxiety levels today. Not so sure about my waist line though.

Sorry, but I ate the cookies before I took any pictures :-)

Instead of picture of cookies, here's a picture of Denny Crane (under the command to stay with momma), patiently watching for the mechanic with me.
Of course, he's won over all the technicians!

The Life & Trials of Denny Crane

Today I'm just going to share a little bit of my adversities and fun with the cutest dog in the world, Denny Crane.

He's a smart cookie and I've trained him in many things. No, I've never trained him to sit as it seems ridiculous since he's only 2 inches off the floor anyway.

However, he does know to wait, to stay, to stay with momma, to go outside, to come along, to come here, to hush, to get down/aka leave me alone, to bring, to stop licking, etc.

He's very good at all of them, but he's the proverbial child. If he gets scolded, he's offended.

So he's always looking for ways to have the last word.

One of his least favorite commands is to hush. He's a very hard of hearing dog these days so all the commands have hand gestures that he follows. I'm actually not sure how really hard of hearing he is or how much he is just really good at pretending. Anyway, if he's barking excessively and I've offered to let him out, checked his water and his food bowl and he's fine, I'll tell him to hush. If he thinks that's going to happen he will purposely avert his head or go behind me so as to avoid "seeing" the command. Because, after all, if he can't see it he doesn't have to follow it. Obviously.

Well, today, among other days, he didn't act fast enough and he saw the finger rise to my lips. His ears drooped and his head dropped and he glanced away for a second before looking back again with hopes my finger would be removed. It was still there so he begrudgingly turned to leave. I turned around to continue what I was doing. That little devil walked as far as the bathroom door, turned around, barked once, and dashed into the bathroom to avoid seeing the command again and to let me know that he indeed got in the last word.

Another one of his least favorite commands is to stop licking. Denny Crane is a licker as they say. That tongue never stops. He really enjoys giving kisses so if he gets anywhere near skin, watch out because a kiss is coming your way!

Usually when I tell him to stop licking, he looks at me as if to say, "Really?". I stare him down and for maybe ten seconds he stops. Then he decides I didn't really mean it and continues. At this point he gets the soft bop on the nose that indicates I really did mean it. Now he's offended. How could I possibly not want kisses in excessive abundance? So while he was happily perched on my lap trying to give kisses, the command to stop licking is so horrible, he can't stand to be near me. If he has the option he will stalk off to the other end of the couch and purposefully curl up with his head facing away from me (which is really rare since he always tries to keep an eye on me). If he can't move away, he physically huffs to show his discontent with the command and then waits about 15 seconds or so before doing a 'gotcha' lick. It's not a kiss. It's not a full lick. It's just the tip of his tongue fast enough so he doesn't get caught in the act and he gets the last word. Then he turns around to sulk in the least cozy position possible.

One of his other not so favorite commands is to get down. He doesn't actually jump. But when I'm eating at the table he'll prop his legs up on the chair or couch to let me know he wants up there too. Sometimes I pick him up. Sometimes I want my space. He knows the hand cue for down and the poor boy looks like he's been grounded for a month when he sees it. His ears droop and his eyes get that big "puss in boots" size, and he slowly drags his feet down the chair or couch to emphasize his disapproval and utter misery of the situation. Then he waits for just a bit to make sure I don't change my mind before turning around and stalking off to his furthest bed possible. "Fine", he says. "If you don't want me around. I don't want to be around you either!"

What a character he is. Denny Crane is smart and fun to play with and show off to all the people. They are always impressed at how well he walks on a leash, how well behaved he is in public, and how he walks right into his doggy purse. They ooo and aaa over his adorable little face and his one-of-a-kind white mohawk. He prances around like a little horse and tilts his head, staring straight into cameras, and melting hearts far and wide.

He's a truly special dog for sure and he's got the personality to match!

Denny being the baby that he is: completely relaxed, feet curled in his 'cute' position.

Run Denny Run! This is probably my favorite toy. I do believe it's a squeaky hedgehog, but whatever it is, the squeaky is adorable lol!!

You can see the back of his little head as he's curled up sleeping in his purse.

What a tongue!!

There he is, charming the camera and showing off his white tuft mohawk.

Alive & Dreams

 The title won't make any sense probably, if you didn't see my last post, but I'm going to make the crazy assumption you're here because you enjoy catching up on my strange life, even though I haven't been good at posting for a long long time.

Truth is, I'm not inspired to post when I'm not really happy so it hasn't been a writing season for quite some time. And even less so during the fun newish, now oldish pandemic.

Trying to find a new me and learn a new life and all of that has shown me: 

• I need to sleep until at least 9am no matter how many hours of sleep that actually is.
• I am now a coffee drinker more than a yerba mate drinker even though I don't like the taste better.
• I need in-person/live people-watching to survive a quarantine.
• Shaunt T is still the man for exercise inspiration!
• I am able to learn a lot about relationships and communication by watching The Amazing Race.
• Lamps are amazing things. You never know what you will miss until you don't have it anymore.
• I've never been unemployed for so long in my life since high school.
• Wearing makeup during a pandemic doesn't help you feel more alive; more like silly.
• I hate cooking. This is not something new. Just something verified by pandemic cooking 3x/day.
• Video calls are more stressful than helpful. I'm old school and still prefer voice calls.

Ok, I think that is enough sharing for now. You get the idea. 

In the process of trying to find the new Ronda while not completely losing the old Ronda so that I can find work again one day (Who knew that violinists aren't commodities in the 'real' world and businesses aren't interested in the skill set of dedication, perseverance, focus, accurate and precise work, responsible autonomously, and fast learning required to be a professional violinist.), I'm hoping, yes hoping, to write more in the blog.

I can't guarantee the future and I'm big on not making promises I can't keep, so I will do my best to write a whole lot more :)

When I traveled the world for a living (yes, that was an awesome job), I had so much material I couldn't get it all written down. With life seemingly the same, churning out a mundane existence moving from one couch to the other, I'm not so inspired with fantastic tales of adventure. But, I do live in Mexico with a Dachshund of unparalleled personality, so I'm sure I can find something worth writing about once in a while, right? Well, that's the goal. 

I aim to write much more often here on this blog and if you feel so inclined, responding to me (respond to the blog email if you're a subscriber, comment on my blog, message me on fb, etc.) would be a wonderful way to inspire me to keep writing right now.

Hopefully I will have continuing reasons to keep writing and blogging and reimagining Ronda!

How is he so photogenic? I mean, he steals the shot every time! I am obsessed with my new watch band however.
Who knew 12mm quality watch bands were so hard to come by in Mexico?!

Nothing New...Year

The holidays have come and gone. I didn't celebrate any of them. I didn't even know which days they were except for the lack of traffic outside. My fb feed was actually confusing because of all my friends in different countries. I had to go google what day it was because I didn't know if it was Christmas today or tomorrow or yesterday.

None of that really matters to me. It's just humorous. Holidays could be good educational days but in my life and my experience, instead of encouraging more regular family get-togethers and more consideration of friends on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, holidays are the perfect rationalizations.

That being said, I didn't celebrate any and have been having quite the experience here in Mexico.

It took just over two weeks to get rid of Montezuma's revenge. The day after I got an intense migraine that took a couple of days to recover from. Now that my body seems to have stopped fighting me, lol, I've gotten back to work on my new writing career. I'd tried to use WordPress for a month and realized it didn't actually have the same possibilities that Wix does so I chose to return to Wix. In just a couple of days I'm already happier and further along than a month ago so hopefully it will be up and running by the end of the Jan.

The latest thing taking up most of my time is the return to apartment hunting. The place I'm staying is literally snowing on me everywhere except the bedroom. So I've tried to move everything uncovered into the bedroom and only live there unless I need to use the bathroom or the kitchen. It's really gross and I'm not sure the ceiling isn't raining asbestos on my belongings and food, but I don't have a test to prove or disprove it so I just live with the assumption it is. From what I read, it's likely asbestos. The landlord has told me he will have it cleaned but I don't know when that will be. The windows have been painted open since I arrived also, making it much colder in the house. Those have also been promised to be replaced or fixed but time moves a little slower and the holidays made it impossible so I've had extremely unfortunate timing in these matters.

 

 

It's still fairly cold here with nighttime temps down in the 40s. This morning I woke up to 38 degrees so definitely heater weather. Still, once the sun is out for a little while, it warms up into the 70s and is very pleasant outside.

In the last trip in my car I discovered a leak in a hose. Had fun going to Autozone to get a new one and because it was AutoZone they just did the work for me which was helpful because all my tools are in the US. The new hose and two new clamps cost me a staggering 131.80 pesos or about $7.

I've found a local panaderia where I can buy multigrain rolls and Mexican pastries for pennies. Each roll is 8 pesos. I eat way too much delicious daily baked bread now....

I also managed to find the one and only Asian market and indulged in a box of ChocoPies and have some ramen for those cold and lonely nights lol. I've also found a few Korean restaurants. Each is slightly different in their inclusions so it's a surprise each first visit but I've enjoyed them immensely none the less. It is very strange to my brain to go to a Korean place and speak Spanish, especially if I'm speaking to a Korean. In these pictures I found a Korean restaurant that has Korean style tables. Well, almost lol. They have floor chairs instead of just cushions and you keep your shoes on instead of removing them at the restaurant entrance, but it's pretty close and I enjoyed it.

All in all, now that my body is back to potential work out status, I'm enjoying discovering the possibilities in Mexico. Sometimes it's still really tough and much nicer to stay in my bedroom watching football on my ipad and eating ramen than dealing with my brain switching to Spanish, but it's getting easier as the days progress and by the time I return to the States my English will probably be just as bad as the other times I've moved to foreign countries. I think they call this total immersion!