The Rosas-Standring Family

The other day my friend Crystal took me out to a laguna just south of Tulum. It was amazing. The water was so warm and beautiful. It was only 10 pesos to get in and they did not charge for the kids.

There was a great palapa - perfect for having parties. The kids and I along with my good friend and her 2 kids all ate some tacos and played in the water. It was a fantastic day. I cannot wait to go back.


I am really tired. I have spent so many days at the beach with friends, birthday parties, cenotes, I did an amazing tour with my friend David and spent time at Lagunas and graduaiton parties. It has been an intense week or so but I have really enjoyed it.

The graduation party was really cute. Lena's good friend Ananda was graduating from Kinder 3. She was wearing the cutest little dress and crown and did this whole little dance. It was so precious. I cannot wait to get the kids into the new school here. Any school really but I would love to put them into the new Montessori school. But it is a lot of money and we do not have any. But we will see what happens.

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.

This morning started like many other. Akilean came into our room and curled up next to me and Ruben curled up on the other side. It was quite the Rosas boy sandwich. After a little while of my not being able to move I made them both get up, although I did wait a while because we ran out of coffee the other day and there is no rush for me to get out of bed when we do not have coffee. First thing out of Ruben's mouth, "Happy Cinco de Mayo" to me.

Now first of all, I am sure everyone who reads this knows, but Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. That is on the 16th of September. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration from when Mexico defeated the French army is 1862. This is also important for America as Mexico kept the French, specifically Napoleon III, out of the United States who was already very busy fighting its own Civil War. Had Mexico not been successful at defeating the French, the end of the Civil War could have gone very differently.

the kids and I walked to town, stopping off to pay our water bill. Here the bills are not delivered via the post office. The are delivered by a company hired driver to drop off each bill. When you want to pay, you go to the office and pay in cash. You can also pay at the bank. This is very different then in the USA. But I really like it. Then it was off to the park.


The kids and I had a great time at the park in town. This park has become one of our all time favorites. I am so glad that something was finally done with the space. When we first moved here it was a broken down park with hardly any working equipment that was all old splintery wood and a dirt parking lot. Once the election had been won and the former head of Tulum was on his way out, this park and the road through town got transformed with lightning speed. It is now a great space. We came here to see the Governor speak at the transition of power.

After playing for well over an hour the kids and I went to go ask the nursery a question about our tomatoes and why nothing seems to be growing. The were so nice and gave me a whole can of fertilizer. These guys are always so nice. They also gave me a house plant for Kennedy and Akilean's room which made them very happy.

We were walking over to the polloria to buy our chicken, we were all the way at the other end of town and here there are many pescaderias (fish stores) I decided that since Ruben was going to be home for dinner tonight (he was asked to come in and help for an AM shift) I thought that I would make his favorite fish Red Snapper. WE are trying to buy as much of our food as possible from only the fruiteria and the polloria or pescaderia. That way we only need to stock up on the milk, brown rice, wheat pasta, yogurt and coffee at the regular super. Although I am really excited because all of a sudden our super has brown rice, wheat pasta and now even wheat flour. YEAH!!!! the guy at the pescaderia cleaned and gutted the fish for me and gave me the idea of stuffing it. I then bought a fillet of grouper for the kids.

When I was visiting my grandmother in Fresno her gardener gave me a beautiful cookbook. It is actually called Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook. I made a corn pudding, a zucchini something or other and the fish. Recipe and details are on my other blog

I got everything all set to put in the oven and waited for Ruben. I started to get really scared because he was not home yet and I thought that maybe they had asked him to stay. We do not have a Mexican phone number so he would have no way of calling me and telling me. But soon after I started to worry, in he walks.

The kids loved every bite of dinner which was great because it had tons of veggies and good foods. With a big "Salute!" we all finished our dinners. One thing that I am just getting more used to is that with the fresher the items (usually meat) there is a lot more work involved. We are much more used to ripping the chicken off the bones and sucking on the tiny fish bones. But that is a small price to pay for fresh caught Red Snapper. To finish the evening we had a dessert of vanilla ice cream, fresh mango and cajeta sauce which is a Carmel type sauce that was made famous in Ruben's state of Guanajuato.

Jessica arrived in Playa del Carmen after a bit of drama with the flights. We spent a really nice afternoon in Playa and ate some of my favorite tortilla soup. As you can see Akilean LOVES this soup. And it was the perfect warm up after our late afternoon dip in the ocean.
Once we got the kids back to the house it did not take us long to pass out. We were all really tired from a long day in the sun.



The past 36 hours have been absolutely AMAZING! Yesterday was Ruben and my 7 year anniversary. Now, for those of you who were at our wedding, you are probably confused. Since it was only 3 years ago and in October that we got married. But 7 years ago Ruben and I knew we had to be together. Our wedding came so much later and involved our whole family, so we consider that more of our family anniversary. When you consider that the only people in our wedding were our parents and our kids. :) But March 5th is when we consider our relationship to have kicked off. We knew that this was not some little thing!

So yesterday was the best day. My friend Jessica flew into to town and came to visit. I have not seen her since my wedding day over 3 years ago. It has been so great. And much to my surprise Ruben got the day off work. First things first, we got some tacos from one of our favorite taco stands, (you know the one Mom and Neal) grabbed some beers and headed to the beach.

We went to the beach at El Pariso. There are a few more people down this way and more palm trees on the beach for shade. It was absolutely wonderful. There were a few scary moments when we thought that the clouds were going to take over but nope!!!

Ruben and the kids built a great sand castle and Akilean had a great time playing in it. Ruben thinks that it is his best one to date.


Kennedy and Ruben played soccer on the beach, we got a tan and every one swam in the ocean. It was perfect day. Not to mention that we got a very early start so that is always nice.

After a while we headed home and everyone spent the next while trying to get sand out of their hair. Jessica and I headed into town to look around the shops while the kids played with some friends and Ruben took a little nap. He does not like getting dragged around to all the stores and just browse at all the fun stuff.

Once we collected Ruben, we took the kids to my friends house who was kind enough to watch them for us and we went out to dinner and it was one of my favorites and it was Ruben's best meal yet. We ate at Nero di Sole. This is a wonderful Italian place right in the middle of town and it has such a great atmosphere. The dinner was amazing. They also have a little hotel but I have not seen it or know anyone who stayed there. We have eaten at this spot a few times but we usually get a little pizza to share. This was wonderful.

Our dinner was amazing. We split some marinated shrimp with what was supposed to be feta cheese but it was not. It was probably some mozzerella shreds. Oh well. We also had a caprese salad. For dinner Jessica's red snapper was perfect, fresh and flavorful. Ruben had wonderful steak medalions in a green peppercorn sauce and that was great. and I got shrimp in a garlic sauce. All were served with roasted potatoes and a little veg that was more of a garnish. At the end, even though we were not hungry but Ruben knows that tiramisu is my favorite and it is our anniversary after all.

After our killer dinner we went and had a drink at a few spots in the area. There are so many cute bars that are all closed during the day so I have never seen them. It was really fun. We went to one spot that was going to have a flamenco show but we headed out before that.

We headed home, grabbed the kids and all hung out at the house for a while. It was a wonderful anniversary! Jessica is leaving today to Ozkutcab to see Jordan but I will see them all soon for the wedding.

Is Tulum, Mexico safe. Is Tulum safe for Children? Is it safe to travel in Mexico? YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES! I have been bombarded with questions, posts, news and people wondering if Mexico especially the Yucatan and the Rivera Maya are safe to travel in. Let me say this... 1) I lived in the tenderloin of San Francisco for 10 years. This is not a good area. it is filled with drugs, shootings, and gangs. However. People NEVER asked me or questioned me about the safety there. But since I have lived here... (a town that is filled with kind caring people) I have gotten many questions about its safety.

Now, if you do not use common sense then yes the world is dangerous. Not Mexico. Not Mexicans. But the world. If you do not use the brain that god/buddha/the higher power/ YOUR MOTHER gave you then yes... the world is a scary place. however, if you use your head you will be fine. and that could not be more true then here in the Rivera Maya.

I understand that Mexico and the USA are involved in a very scary war on the cartels. First of all... this is not a Mexican problem. This is a problem that is as much north of the border as south. I am glad that President Obama has very realistic ideas and goals to this problem. But I can say for sure that I feel so safe here. My children are safe here. The people here want no harm to come to us.

I read a blog entry a while back... (if you read any of the meican bloggers here then you have heard a lot about this subject) Check these 2 out for some great information.
www.hiddencancun.rivergirl/2009/02/09/is-cancun-safe-for-tourists and
www.cancuncanuck.com/2009/02/tourists-safe-in-cancun

But that aside... my family is safe here. We walk all over town at all hours of the night totally safe.

I hope that people do actual research and do not listen to scare provoking propaganda that attempt to strike fear in tourists. If you have any questions about anything here in the Yucatan, Tulum, Cancun or anywhere in the Mayan Riviera, please email me... my address is mindyintulum@yahoo.com. I have many friends all over the Yucatan and Mexico who would be happy to answer ANY question that you have. Or would be happy to give you their input or advice on visiting here. This is a beautiful area, full of amazing people. But there are many that are using false stories or half truths and various manipulations to achieve their own agenda.

I have no agenda. I live in Mexico, with my kids. I want Mexico to be safe. i would not allow my children to be in an unsafe place. But I allow my children more freedom here in Tulum, Mexico then I did in the USA. It is because the people here are all looking out for my kids. Please. if you have concerns about visiting, please contact me. I will get you in touch with someone who lives in that town so that you can get REAL information. Information that you will most likely not be getting in main steam press. again mindyintulum@yahoo.com. also check out ANY of the blogs on my blog role and all of them would be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Get real information about a place. Please do not rely on media stories that are designed to invoke fear in order to sell papers. We live here, we walk the streets (sometimes a little in cohesive - BE SAFE!!!) ask us, we would be happy to tell you anything. The good, the bad the ugly... but usually the amazing.

I am so excited to announce that I am starting a new blog about the tourism and life aspect of living in Tulum, Mexico. This is going to be an opinion based information based site for people who are looking to come here for a few days, a few years or the rest of their lives.


When Ruben and I decided to move to Mexico with our kids, we were not sure where we wanted to go. My friend Jordan lives in a town outside of Merida here in the Yucatan and I figured it would be a good idea to have at least one other crazy American girl near by. That has proven to be a sanity saving move. We had originally looked into Playa but since we were not going to move for a few years we thought that by then it would have been so much more developed. (Neither of us had ever seen Playa del Carmen or this part of Mexico before.) But we looked at the map and found Tulum to be the next town south and so decided to move there.

When our move was moved much sooner then we had planned, we sold our stuff, packed some bags and headed to Tulum, kids and cat in tow. I did a lot of looking on the Internet and found that there is a lot more to this town then is on the web sites. I mean, even just living here and wanting to get information is tough. There are some great websites like todotulum.com and tulumtoday.com They have great info about choices in hotels and restaurants. They seem to more geared towards people coming to visit and has a lot of the larger places. And TodoTulum.com has the absolute best map of the area. You can pick them up at many places in town, they are free and they have updated at least once since I have been here. But I really want to highlight the smaller less known things about the area. So I thought, hey I can simply document some of these experiences and blog about them.


I hope that it helps with people visiting or looking into moving or who are just curious. Please keep posted. I have been getting some entries together and I hope that people enjoy them. Tulum is wonderful town with a lot of character and wonderful people. I just want everyone who comes here to have the best experience.

These past few days have been very interesting. We have had a spot of rainy and humid weather these past few days. This has been okay though because we have been making more comfort food then anything. I must say that I am really enjoying cooking so much more. It is nice to have the time to do it. On Saturday I took the kids the beach as promised.
But the wind was making it very difficult to eat our food. It was getting covered with sand. We decided to head home and try the beach another day. I really needed to get a number of things at the store in order to make ANY sort of meal so we headed off to town. We ate at this really cute little french bistro. There are 4 restaurants in a row here that all open up to a courtyard in the middle of the block- completely surrounded.
When we first got to Tulum we ate at the Italian place. Very small and incredibly good food. I cannot remember the name right now but I will get it and report back. I also want to take pictures of the front of the building because all of the restaurants have done a somewhat similar paint decor on the wall but each in the colors that match the theme of the place.

So in a row is a stunning Italian spot, a sushi place, a french bistro and about to open is a fusion cafe called elements.

The kitchens in each place are the same size as any home kitchen in the US - so the food is not super fast. But everything is made fresh to order. And what is very cool- is that you can order from more then one and sit anywhere. The feel is very elegant but as relaxed chic as only this town could be. The Sushi place has been in town for a while but was just moved to that location in November. Le Bistro has only been open for a few weeks and the cafe should be open soon.


They have done a great job with the decor in the courtyard and still more work is being done. The brown chairs are from Le Bistro, the red and black are from Sushill-Out and they are working all over the courtyard. I really hope that Tulum continues to grow in this direction. Small, family owned and operated but chic places. We also have beautiful linen and stunning beachwear stores that have opened lately. The town really has a chance to become a very cool area. But with investors like Donald Trump in the area I guess we will see which way it will go. Either way. It is turning into a very cool little town.


At Le Bistro Ruben and I shared a flank steak with a wonderful blue cheese sauce, a salad with goat cheese and the kids split a croquet Madam. At first I was not sure what this was going to be- it turned out to be a ham, cheese with a bechamel sauce sandwich with a fried egg on it. It was great. There was some sort of seasoning in that sauce that I can't figure out. And it was only $45 pesos. It was a great deal. At the end we all shared a chocolate cake with sauce. Again, everything is made to order so it was a longer meal but that was great.

I also learned some thing interesting. First I thought it was strange that the election was on a Sunday. I mean here more so then back in the USA - everything is closed on Sunday. But also during the election process the stores and restaurants in the whole town stop serving alcohol. The day before and the day of the election there is no alcohol served anywhere in town. Our dinner would have been a little better with a glass of red wine but it was still amazing. But finally the election is over. And now we will not here the bike or car drive by screaming political ads up and down the roads all day and all night. Yeah!

I am going to try to make the kids dish some morning. I will put the recipe on my cooking blog.

Well, today we were off to town to change some dollars into pesos and get our basitos de helado, :) There is this one spot in town that we pass all the time. And since the town is so small the guys that ask you to come in and eat finally realize that I live here and let me pass without asking. Maybe that was why when the kids were hungry we stopped off to eat there. It was wonderful. Mario, the waiter was so nice to the kids and to me. We had a great plate of nachos and some Sprites. Then, of course, since it is always hora feliz he brought me a margarita. And not in a glass that I could sink my head into but in a proper short glass that carried in it a "for the local" treat... Don Julio inside. I would never order Don Julio in a margarita, mostly because I cannot afford it but also because it is sooooo good that I would not want to waste it in a margarita. But there it was. A beautiful little glass of heaven, and during happy hour there were 2 (the 2nd followed a little later.) well, after we were sitting a while, in no hurry to go any where because 1) we have no where else to go and it was in the shade and 2) it always helps to get more people in the place when there are some tourist looking folks sitting at the curb side tables, Lena ran off to the rest room. Not a big deal but after a while I started to get nervous. She was taking along time. Now, I am not worried about crime here and every one has been wonderful, however, being American and a woman I am always aware of the risks of kidnapping. I mean, it is a fair concern here in Mexico and one you always have to be aware of. So when Lena was taking more time that she should of I got up to go check on her. The poor little thing started to cry when she heard my voice because she had locked the door (and it was one of the old school slide locks that are really hard to open.) And it was on a door that she did not need and would normally not be locked by someone going to the bathroom. But there she was crying because she thought that she would not get out. She was easily calmed when i told her that there was nothing to worry about and that mommy would get her out in just a moment. The cook was up on the fence with a broom poking through the "window" which is to say the bars that a window might have been in at some time. She was out in a flash, once she was calm and confident that everything would be fine, she had little trouble opening the door. But it did scare her. After she was out she gave me a big hug and disclosed the whole ordeal with tears flowing as if she had just overcome a huge ordeal. But even better... sitting at the table when we got back was a small plate of tuna salad with pico, a fresh Sprite for the kids and a margarita for me. It made for a very nice afternoon.

And Don Julio, you gotta love that local treat!!!