Mexico: Friday, Sept. 1 at Moon Palace

xpuha, where we are staying, is owned by palace resorts which owns about seven others -- so we got to visit another on saturday. it was admittedly more beautiful in the traditional resort sense than ours, but eh, i like xpuha better still. this place was whoa disney-world. but enjoy the photos!



















but just like at out resort, there was no beach use *tear* because as you can see there were nasty black backwash on the edge of the beach. it was lovely beyond that nastiness though, and i went for a walk alone and tried taking a pic of myself with the beach ... haha.





















we pretty much sat at the pool all day, which at times was boring because the book i was reading wasn't at riveting as the previous days. but i did meet these two beautiful parrots with a woman at the pool... but when i went to pet them we got discovered we couldn't take photos unless she took them and printed them for $15!! mom mom decided she wanted them so we did -- and i figured i'd include them because they were fun and for $15, they better get some use! haha





















bryan, caye and i went minigolfing while everyone else went to beautify themselves at the spa -- and i think we've turned bryan and caye into psuedo alchies with trips to the swim-up bar for (virgin!) piña coladas and BBCs to match our alcholic ones.





















plenty of family photo-ing going on that night .... here's gina, marissa, me and dad in front of the caribbean sea ... don't we look just like him? lol





















horsing around at dinner and before we catch our taxi home ... it was a la dia muy larga. yo soy muy contenta a ir xpuha.

ahhh, i'm not that good at blogging :)

now, i'm watching nickolodeon with caye in spanish .... or, in the words of the mexicans, ahora, yo veo nickolodeon con caye en español. it's weird how being here makes you wish you paid attention during the four years of spanish you had in high school.

the past two days have been filled with laying at the pool, so there aren't MANY interesting photos, so i'll share when i return ... :) miss yunk and terrace and peanut and my friends

Mexico: Wednesday, Aug. 29

i know i said i wasn't going to bring my computer, but it's the only way i can charge my iPod, and that is my saving grace this week. and i've decided to document my short family vacation in my blog -- though i think i'll do it mainly through pics and captions :) so enjoy it daily, if you so desire.

flight
at first i was afraid, i was pertrified
i didn't take any photos while flying so let me tell you about the flight! flying has been a fear of mine since it encompasses a lot of my little quirks -- a bit of clostrophobia, a fear of falling, motion sickness and a lack of control (i'm a control freak). however, i truly believe in mind over matter and though i can't say i'm totally cured after yesterday, i do feel much more confident boarding a plane because i did have a nice flight by a window seat (and i looked down!) and i got to read -- which is extraordinary for someone with motion sickness. for anyone who does -- i would def suggest the meds i was perscribed. ask me about it later.

now for some stilframes from Wednesday




dad's breaking the rules.

awwww... it's a friend for peanut!

guys fixing the roof after the hurrican last week. the beach here is closed because of the storm too. *tear*




the rooms are small and lovely ... each one had wine, a fridge full of soda and beer, and a jacuzzi. not too shabby. not to mention the HAMMOCK they have outside. comfy.

























the place is a zoo! there are caged animals -- such as the flamingos and whatever it is caye is playing with, but running around we've found iguanas, snails and lizards!
































marissa got a seafood platter at dinner that included shrimp with's head (and you see her feigning to eat below) and squids' tenicles. i'm a sucker for squid (ha, get it, cause they have suckers like the ones below) so i ate them for her cause she was going to puke just looking at them. yummy!




















the show was supposed to be a fire show, but since it was raining, the show was moved to the lobby -- which has a thatched roof -- not very condusive to fire play. so instead we watched drumming and african, arabian and brazilian dance (where was the mexican?!)

what's organic?

another interesting story on local buying, organic foods

a little more thought on community.

amazing grace, by jonathan kozol, was a sad realization of how community's can be forgotten and fall to pieces when the leaders don't pay attention, forget or don't care. good read, sad read. i suggest it for anyone who cares about people generally.

also, there's going to be a performance in the fringe -- a comedy it seems, with puppets -- that explores gentrification that might be an interesting show to see.

support local businesses too. before you go to walmart or target, make sure there aren't any local stores that carry the same thing -- might be a few more pennies or more difficult parking, but imagine if it was your own business. more importantly, you'll often find more personal help that the smiley figures at walmart and home depot feign to provide. next time, it's likely the independent owner might remember your face with a small reminder. it's unlikely at walmart you will even meet the same person.

i'd be a hypocrite to say i've never gone to walmart or target nor enjoyed the convenience, but i'm just advocating for being more concious. and a fun way to support local business is find a nearby farmers market -- i've learned recently that roxborough has a farmers market on ridge, fridays 2-6 (i think), and i know chestnut hill and east falls also have one. look them up, there's a whole list of Philly farmers markets, except roxborough and east falls isn't on that list. so look for them here!

not so ignorant anymore

when i was young, i never really thought about how our community, government, and life worked. everything just sorta worked out because it was supposed to; there was no question about it. someone was constantly looking out for and overseeing everything -- someone bigger and greater than i. well, i've since lost that ignorance and am well aware that the people running my life, government, community, school are as human (and fallible) as i. and this fascinates me -- likely because i was so ignorant as a kid, sheltered by parents who had no interest in politics or community.

and for someone fascinated by the workings of a community, chestnut hill is the ideal place to observe a functional but crazily operated community. it's a huge success, but behind the scenes can often be chaos -- a truth i know only because i have to report on these people. and despite their craziness, they usually pull off a pretty successful event, community, etc. ... its community association's membership is beginning to struggle now, but we'll see how that goes. i think it's chaos is beginning to backfire and they might have to redirect themselves soon.

anyway, the point of this is that in my fascination, i've learned that aspects of a community i've taken for granted and never thought about -- such as its retail mix and how that effects resident demographics, crime, etc. -- are really very vulnerable without the proper oversight. which brings me to the article i wrote about banks on germantown avenue. it was interesting to discover not only how an increase in bank branches (article on slate.com about it) could effect a commercial corridor, but what was more interesting was how the branches came about. the banks did not all happen to "find" the Hill and open branches, though the community's established history and well-off residents did attract them. but rather it was an increase in chain stores a few years ago, which seemed to have been viewed as a positive move for the Hill, and the chains' ability to pay higher rents that led to an increase in banks ... because, when the chains moved, only banks could afford to move in and pay the higher rent; independent stores can't afford those rents, and landlords still expect the profits.

read on. and part two is here...

peanut is a peanut!

meet the newest member of our little terrace street family! peanut, an eight-week, female kitty that i adopted from a barn in roxborough yesterday. awwwww she's cute!