Casa Update 30

Friends,

George and Beverly’s trip was delayed a week and they are arriving tomorrow so I thought that I would update everyone tonight. There has been a lot going on in the past few weeks.

First, as you all know, we had the outbreak of the Swine Flu here in Mexico. It has spread all over the world in lightning fashion. The only thing that seems to have moved faster than the virus was the media attention. I could say a lot about what is happening down here with regards to the outbreak but if you will click Here you can get a very good summary. Also, Kat has a lot of information (though you will have to read thru all of the social stuff) Here. I think when all is said and done, this outbreak will be seen as an overreaction by the media and the WHO. Mexico again suffers under the relentless attack by the US media. I really don’t know what is behind all of this unethical reporting but I sure would like to find out. Please comment if you have ideas.

Well the snowbirds are leaving in mass now. Not that there were that many down this year. The state of the economy has left our little town really hurting. Home construction for the most part is down somewhere between 60-80%. Our contractor has reduced his staff now to about 60. That is down from a peak of 200+ just two years ago. The good news is that there is a lot of new commercial construction going on. A few new motels have been finished and little shops are either spiffing up or just opening for the first time. We now have a Thrifty Ice Cream shop again. And, even better, it is located half way to town. We will be checking it out real soon as the weather is changing. Gone are the cool nights. Gone is the low humidity. Summer is going to come early this year.

We continue with our regular activities of water volleyball and pickle ball and still seeking out more activities.

Friends from Arnold CA invited about 20+ of us to a beach barbeque. We went and had a great time. Pictures are Here.

Yesterday we had the last major social event of the season: The 7th Annual Chili cook-off at Club de Pesca. Kat said it was the largest that she had attended. We went last year and can only tell you that this years was way larger. We went with Kaaren and George, same as last year but this time we went early. There were not as many “regulars” as last year with many new faces. The band (Agave Blues) was fantastic as always. There were so many people that the chili ran out before everyone had a chance to taste them all. There must have been over twenty entries and we got to only try 10-11. I have included pictures of the event. You will see Kaaren and Regina sitting at our excellent table. We have a shot of Victor Rodriguez, who is our local fantastic photographer. It should be easy to recognize him as he is the one with the very expensive camera in his hand. We also bought a piece of art (also pictured at the end) from Arturo Gomez. He is a local artist and is the artist who painted our house name on the courtyard wall. All of these pictures are Here.

Well, enough for now. I will post more after the Phillips visit is over and we have recovered from all of the fun.

Larry and Regina