The Rosas-Standring Family

One thing I have learned about the rain here in this area of Mexico is that it comes in fast, it comes down hard and it feels amazing. It has been very dry for a few months now and we were really starting to notice. Well, the other day we were sitting at "the office" also known as Pariso Caribe on the main road in Tulum. It is just a block before (North) of the HSBC. This is one of our favorite spots in Tulum. The food is consistently good, the drinks are a great deal and the service is amazing.

It is the same few guys there all the time. We also have some friends that come here almost every afternoon so we always know that we will get to see them. Well, This day was no exception. David, Barbara and Bruce were at their table when we got there and the poker cloth quickly came out. Sometimes it is chess but more often it is poker. The guys from the restaurant also play when there are not customers. It really is a good time.

Well, the cloth came out and everyone got out their 20 pesos. You got to love a poker game where all you are going to lose is a $1.50!!! Some tourists from Switzerland walked by and the game caught their eye. They sat down with us and we all had a good time. The kids gets to watch their cartoons and eat ice cream while we all chat.


Bruce and I were talking about gardening when we started talking about how dry it had been recently and when this rain that we could tell was coming would get here. Well, it took all of 5 minutes. I took this picture just as the rain started to come down (which means you have about 15 seconds to get under cover)


The kids walked across the street to throw something in the garbage and got caught! Luckily the water that falls from the sky is very warm and refreshing. Everyone who lives here did the usual routine... grab everything and move it inside and wait the few minutes for it to pass. It passed in about 5 minutes. By then the crew was already all set up inside and decided not to move back outside.




As the night continued the street musicians came out. This is one of my favorite parts. I am not a huge mariachi fan especially on small sidewalk cafes because it almost too much music to be so close. But here in Tulum there are a lot of drummers and guitar players and we love that. Kennedy and Akilean always get really into it.


The people here love and embrace kids and the kids feel very comfortable. The kids get to really be involved in the environment which I really love about living in Mexico.

I am also discovering that Akilean is the perfect little Mexican Aztec little trainee. He is really into fire dancing. And the other day he picked up a piece of bamboo and started swinging it around like a Bo. I think that is what they are called. You know, the long sticks that people fight with. Anyway... he was really good at it. I was really impressed.

Okay, so let me first say that my house at this exact moment is as clean and organized that it could possibly be. This is in and of itself an amazing feeling. And it is freshly deep cleaned and staged because our landlord was coming by to take a look and talk about our lease. We get a really great deal on this house and it is a very cute house and our landlord is really nice.


I love not having a single load of dishes or cloths, totally folded and put away wardrobes, and all of those little fix it things done. The house is looks awesome. Plus we got to keep our place at the same great part for another 6 months and the landlord will fix a few things we want done!!! Great start to the morning- plus we finally bought more coffee at the store. We have realized that this is not a luxury that we (mostly me) cannot cut.


For some reason, after we got home from the park, the fruteria and the pescaderia BOTH of my kids sat on the sofa and took naps ATT THE SAME TIME!!! Any mother of more then one knows the rare beast that this moment is. This called for a celebration.

Then we have highlight number 3... My brother Ryan by way of my amazing mother gave us the greatest gift. It is a hard drive full of almost any artist that you can think of and many cd of each artist. We get to listen to Jimmy Buffet and Bob Marley ALL day. One of my all time favorite songs is One Particular Harbor and Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude, pretty much is our families theme song! And there is no better music then Jimmy Buffet especially when you are here in the heat, sipping on a margarita...


which brings me to great part 4... Ruben had gotten a little margarita fixings for our cinco de Mayo dinner. And this is a particularly great treat because a well- and correctly made margarita is my favorite drink of all time. And on our budget we never get to have evenings with cocktails anymore. So I have a ice cold margarita to sip on while the kids are sleeping. Even now as I finish this post, they are still sleeping!!!


So to recap... totally clean and cute house, ready for dinner, BOTH kids sleeping at the same time, margarita... Yeah-- these are the moments that make life worth living. And all of this while living in a tropical paradise.

I think life might work out for us!


Yep.. This song is our families theme song.

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

By: Jimmy Buffett
1977

I took off for a weekend last month
Just to try and recall the whole year
All of the faces and all of the places
Wonderin' where they all disappeared
I didn't ponder the question too long
I was hungry and went out for a bite
Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum
And we wound up drinkin all night

Chorus:
It's these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

Reading departure signs in some big airport
Reminds me of the places I've been
Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure
Makes me want to go back again
If it suddenly ended tomorrow
I could somehow adjust to the fall
Good times and riches and son of a bitches
I've seen more than I can recall

Chorus:
These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
Through all of the islands and all of the highlands
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

I think about Paris when I'm high on red wine
I wish I could jump on a plane
So many nights I just dream of the ocean
God I wish I was sailin' again
Oh, yesterday's over my shoulder
So I can't look back for too long
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me
And I know that I just can't go wrong

Chorus:
With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of my running and all of my cunning
If I couldn't laugh I just would go insane
If we couldn't laugh we just would go insane
If we weren't all crazy we would go insane