beach therapy vacations...write like nobody's reading.
Pre-empt
Welcome to our Playa Web Logs. We may not have an entry every single day or week but we'll do our best. We do have somewhat of a semblance of a life. At least that's what we tell people. You will quickly come to realize however, that we can talk. Which, of course, is not to be confused with having anything to say.
Dad Gettin' Ready to Carol!
HELP US TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE 4th ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GIFT & SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE FOR KIDS IN CHUNPOM!
The School (Escuela Jacinto Pat) in Chunpom, located 30 miles south of Tulum, houses 120 kids. This is the 4th year that Cindy Albaugh, Paamul retiree, is organizing the Event. Five ladies from Paamul, one being my Mom, ventured out to the school to pay a visit and make plans! The children are being taught Mayan, their native tongue, with Spanish as a second language. But they are being introduced to some English, as well.
Last year through donations, Cindy was able to purchase the
Paamulians Getting Ready to Carol for Kids!
I hear that you haven’t seen a kid as excited as one holding a raffle ticket hoping to be the lucky winner of a Christmas gift. Since there are not enough large gifts for every child, they must be raffled off. I can’t wait to see this in action! Each child does receive a small gift bag. Why does it always seem that the kids who have the least materially are the happiest?
Personal Note From Cindy: ‘There are 120 kids this year and it costs approximately $20 US for a set of uniforms per child. Each Christmas gift bag we put together costs around $5 and
Santa Hugs!
includes a small toy of some sort, a juice box, cookies, a pencil and coloring book with a small box of crayons. They always ask us for sweaters and jackets which can be picked up at the goodwill for next to nothing. Calvin (Paamulian) brings down two bikes to give at Christmas; we give each kid a number and draw for the bikes and other larger gifts. Book bags are also something they request; we buy a few and stuff them with goodies to be raffled off like the bikes.
Besides Christmas gifts, school supplies are always needed. We always take a box of copier paper and try to take a toner cartridge each time. We will service the copier during Christmas break this year. Anyway, these are some of the things they need and any help is appreciated. Every penny raised goes to the school!
Thanks, Cindy Cindy & George Albaugh’
The kids at Escuela Jacinto Pat say ‘Muchas Gracias!’
Look what I got from Santa!
We are so excited to be journeying to Chunpom with Cindy & the gang on December 17th along with my Dad & his guitar to sing Feliz Navidad and a few Christmas Carols with the kids. To help out my parents are hosting a Christmas Carol Sing-a-Long! This will take place December 15th at 7pm in Paamul at Palapa #78 on Jungle Avenue. We have copies of words for everyone and we’re asking for a donation of a toy or cash (and we’ll buy the toy) to take to the kids. BYOB!
Please contact us at volunteerprograms@beachtherapyvacations.com if you have any questions, would like to join in on the fun or would like to help out in any way. Thank you and have a very Merry Christmas!! Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano y Felicidades!
PS If you would like to see some awesome million dollar smiles to go with this message. E-mail and we’ll send you the attachment that includes the full story, which I have sent out to my clients, family and friends.
Holidays in November and December:
November 1&2: Día de los Muertos is an important Mexican holiday that merges Pre-Columbian beliefs and modern Catholicism. Europe’s All Saints’ Day and the Aztec worship of the dead contribute to these two days that honour Mexico’s dead.
Paamul Finished Being Built...well almost!
November 20: Mexican Revolution Day. This official Mexican holiday celebrates the Mexican Revolution of 1910. December 12: Día de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, or the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, is celebrated with a feast honouring Mexico’s patron saint.
December 16: Las Posadas celebrates Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter in Bethlehem with candlelight processions that end at various nativity scenes. I’ve seen one of these groups sporting very large crosses walking up Juarez. Las Posadas continues through to January 6. Historically, children receive their gifts on January the 6th.
December 25: Navidad, Mexico celebrates the Christmas
Back Porch
holiday. Arrives without snow. My wonderful maid, Maria, told me that December 25th celebrations are for the adults and January 6 celebrations are more for the children.
The sun is shining here again today and the humidity is about non-existent for Playa. Our temps have definitely dropped about 10C and it is definitely better for sleeping. The ocean is crystal clear again & hurricane season was pretty uneventful for us here this year…another winter is fast approaching! Take that with a grain of sand if you are a Canadian.
Christmas Party
Have a great weekend!
Still a pickin' and a grinnin'!
Then, like a miracle, he opens his eyes. He’s not dead. He is not there, but he is not dead. His expression hasn’t changed. His mouth is still open and his eyes are blank. I don’t know if he knows who I am.
Dad Still Playing Music with the Family!
B with Sister, Bro-in-law & Godson Carson when frist arrive in Playa
Of all the juke joints in all the world how’d we end up in Playa?
We track down the hotel doctor and get him up to see Dad. Dad shows him the medicine from the pharmacy and the doc starts to laugh. ‘Well the first thing you might want to do is stop taking this stuff!’
My Dad, unable to speak Spanish, thought he delivered his message quite effectively at the pharmacy. Who needs to know Espanola! He bragged about how he communicated so well through sign language and gesturing. (Something I have become very adept at myself. We could open up a mime theatre here.)
Unfortunately, when all other synonyms failed him he finally said to the girl behind the counter, ‘I’ve got the shits!’ They all cracked up and she gave him a laxative for constipation. And a very effective one at that. To quote one of my father’s favourite sayings, ‘He could shit through the eye of a needle at 50 paces’.
Papa Butch and Carson. The next generation.
Step one, get off the meds and start on the Gatorade right away to fix the old electrolyte imbalance. Poor guy. Gets worse. Canadian government decides it is time to evacuate the Canadians down this way as they are forecasting another hurricane headed straight toward us again. We all have to leave on one of those international planes with the huge middle section of seats. We’re all separated and are seated on opposite sides of the plane. Earphones are on and we’re watching a Batman movie. Lucky us.
Suddenly, I think I hear somebody say my name. ‘Brenda’. Must be another Brenda nearby. ‘Brenda’. I faintly hear it again overtop of the loud movie sound effects blasting in my ears. Then I hear, ‘Buuuuuutch!’ My Dad’s name. I yank out my earphones and try to stand up and turn to see across the plane where my parents are sitting. I see my Mom standing up facing me, with her worried, strained expression staring at my Dad. He is unconscious with his mouth gaping open and his head bobbing to the motion of the plane. ‘Help, I need help!’ she screams.
Shangri-La
I have to jump over the honeymooners seated beside me and the entire middle row of people. All deaf people as they are watching the movie. I’m sure I spilled something on somebody. Sorry! I somehow scramble over top of the food trays & make my way over there about the same time as the steward does. He’s yelling at my Dad to wake up. I don’t know what to do when I get there as I think he is dead. I am afraid to touch him to make it real. I am frozen.
My friend Szuz runs around the front of the plane and she comes up behind me and I just hug her. The steward pleads loudly,’Is there a doctor on the plane?’ Just like in a movie. Only this is real life. Miraculously, a doctor from St. Catharines, stands up and says, ”I’m a doctor”. He rushes over. My Dad is still unconscious. The steward has started CPR. I can’t watch.
To be continued……Happy Hallowe’en.
Of all the juke joints in all the world how’d we end up in Playa?
Daddio
Conversation kinda went like this…’I wanna take Spanish lessons!’ B makes a bold declaration to her Dad in Niagara Falls. She’s calling from Calgary, one of their ritual ‘Hey how ya doing?’ weekly phone calls.
‘Why?’ he asks.
‘Well it is has always been in Paul’s retirement plan to move to Mexico and since we have both vacationed there for a number of years, it just seems like a smart thing to do.’
‘I’d move there in a heartbeat,’ he spits out.
‘You would?’ B is shocked at her Dad’s even bolder statement. (Especially considering he has never even been to Mexico.) ‘Don’t you think maybe you should at least visit first and see what you think Dad?’ Hence a vacation is born.
B & P at the Royal Real in Playa
So there we are my parents, my dear friend (my driving to Mexico in my Jeep partner) Szuzu-a–BooSzu-a-(wait for it)….Bear, and me. We have perfected our nicknames over the years. And for the record she is definitely an excellent driver, definitely and not a coincidence I chose her as my driving partner. I only colour my hair blonde.
Anyhooo, we’re having a great time at the Gran Porto Real and then that nasty, cranky Wilma decides to come and join us there for 4 days. So we’re in the bomb shelter at the Royal Porto Real with 600 other people. But we’ve got our bottle of vodka from our room and they have V-8. Now in hard times we call that a Caesar. Life is OK. We have power from their generator and find the staff showers in the basement. They even set up an exercise program for us. It’s called pick up the squeegee and help us get this water off the floor and into the bathroom floor drain. Helps work the kinks out of your back from “sleeping” on the cozy marble floor. Slowest moving hurricane on record and it sat over Cozumel for 4 days. If I knew I would have brought in another
My 2 Favourite Guys!
bottle from the room. But at that point I was a hurricane rookster. Live and learn.
When we get out the banks are closed for a week with no cash left in the instabanks, no electricity yet in town, windows blown in, pools full of sand and I mean full completely displacing all water, injured & dead animals up & down the beach, new 3 foot deep streams of water pouring in from downtown back in the ocean, coconut trees strewn everywhere, streets missing as in no interlocking bricks left, general chaos. Like nothing I had ever seen in my innocent little Canadian life.
To top it off my Dad is ill. And he is passing ill now and getting worse. He is so weak he can hardly walk. Water is pouring out of him from the wrong end. No pesos left as we tipped the last all out to the poor hardworking staff in the shelter, no electricity available to use Visa, no money in instabanks. We are all getting increasingly worried about Dad.
To be continued…..
Grady & B at Bad Boys! (Guitar signed by Willie himself)
(dedicated to Buddy, because of you a blog is reborn)
Butch & Bev Gettin' Jiggy With It At Bad Boys
Dad Helping Replant Coconut Tree From Their New Lot
Last night I attended my second annual Paamul party put on by Paamul residents / veterans Heidi & Phil. Every year they host a different dress-up theme and this year it was “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves!”
For those of you not familiar with Paamul, it is a little ocean side haven located between Xcaret and Puerto Aventuras on the way to Tulum. It began as a simple RV park several years back and has since evolved into a diversely imaginative palapa’d neighbourhood for many Canadian & American snow birds sprinkled with a few die-hard full-timers.
You can find everything from the overnight tenters to concrete houses built under palapas. Like nothing we’ve ever seen in
Building Palapa
Canada that’s for sure! There is a pool, seaside restaurant, small hotel, cabanas & a dive shop that hosts many snorkeling tours on the coral reef just steps from the shore. It really is a sight to see!
And Paamulians know how to have fun! From weekly crab races to volleyball to karaoke & dances on Friday nights they’re keeping busy. And last night’s party was no exception! All kinds of entertainment consisting of a harp player, a magician & 3 different bands followed by DJ music & a dance. All entertainment was provided by Paamul residents!
Mayans Fearless When Working on Palapa
And the food…as always it was delicious and plentiful. Even yours truly was up on stage singing with my folks (The 3 B’s) and I also won the “Best Dressed Gypsy” Award. Whew hew! I was just happy they didn’t pick me for the “Best Tramp” Award.
Can’t wait for next year’s 50’s Sock Hop. Don’t know where I’m gonna find a poodle skirt in Mexico. Maybe I’ll just rent a poodle and carry him down by my skirt. Tricky…
Bev at Paamul Pool
Box-o-kittens!
We would like to encourage and invite you to join beach therapy vacations at the annual non-profit cat & dog VIDAS Sterilization Clinic that is held in the Riviera Maya once each summer.
Hola All Y’all from Playa del Carmen,
A sad Jose & Elena Left With No Home
What an awesome year we had in 2007! We are changing the future of San Isdrio, our adopted village which was pummelled by the eye of Hurricane Dean. Thanks to your donation $$, clothes and toys we are giving hope back to a village which was left with none.
To date we have helped purchase supplies to rebuild a family’s home; purchased mattresses & school books for kids; and donated clothes, toys & toothbrushes from a Calgary dentist. I love my clients! The smiles on their faces say it all and we at beach therapy vacations along with our clients, families & friends have been proud to be a part of this success story.
We could not have done this without the tireless efforts of our
Home Rebuilt for Family
good friends Patti & Danny. They have personally taken it upon themselves to adopt this village and specifically focus on helping 3 families personal needs.
But we still need your help! Every little bit helps as only $100 pesos is needed to purchase the books for one child and we have 120 left to go! We have already purchased enough supplies for 180 lucky children. The next endeavour they would like to undertake is to purchase food seeds to help this village become self-reliant by growing their own food. We are already planting the seeds of knowledge in the young minds of the children with their new school books and now we would like to begin focusing on their continued nourishment.
First Time Mattresses For Residents of San Isdrio
In Mexico a few dollars can still go a long way. For more information please contact us at volunteerprograms@beachtherapyvacations.com .
Happy 2008! All the best to you and yours!
Picture Says It All!
The 3 B's Sing (Even When You Don't Want Them To)
Here I sit sipping a hot cup of coffee with eggnog! Mmmmm delicious…Out the window I can see the giant evergreen tree topped with peaks of snow sitting on a white snow covered ground.
OK I’m not in Playa I’m back in Calgary for Christmas. I love Christmas! It’s my favourite time of year and this year I was fortunate enough to be able to decorate my parents’ palapa in Paamul (about 15 minutes from Playa) and my sister’s home in Calgary. Both look just as festive.
I got in a few Christmas carols with Dad and his guitar before I left and life is good! Now I get to spend some time with my Calgary family & friends.
B & Pablo
I hope you all have a very happy holiday season with you and yours. It doesn’t get any better than this. It’s what life is all about. Thank-you to all of my clients from Christmas past, present & future. I send you all smiles and happiness from my heart.
All you gotta do is catch it.
Feliz Navidad, Prospero Ano y Felicidades.
Christmas in Paamul!
