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Casa Alexandra, our home for the first week. Mom & I flew in after a marathon trip (4 hours delay & a total of 17 hours travel time from start to finish) & we were greeted by Pam, another Albertan (from Fairview) who was taking the workshop as well & stayed up to welcome us with a drink (we were so late that the other guests had gone to bed). Mom & I were thrilled with the place & the chance to learn here & get away from the cold back home. Above is the living room & dining area.
This is the hallway off of the living room. Through there & down some stairs (in a sort of maze-like way) is where our studio (classroom) was. The stairs ahead lead up to the roof top:
We ate our lunch out here...
& watched beautiful sunsets each night.
The casa & vicinity had many "Mexican charms" like the church bells that went off at all hours of the day, the neighborhood parties that seemed to roll on long after any practical party hour. The faithful rooster, just up the hill, kaka doodle-doodling his little heart out ~ dawn or dusk, he didn't discriminate. And then there was Blanca. Sam, the woman that runs these fabulous Art Workshops, has an adorable Maltese pup, named Estella that is as cute as a button & very social & she also has Blanca, a white cockatoo that refuses to be your friend unless you kiss her first (I never got that close). With a hearty "Good Morning" screech, Blanca liked to rattle any lingering sleep out of us while we ate breakfast. She always followed her vocal exercises with an energetic aerobic dance. Our "Casa Blanca" (you knew it was coming) was quite a character.
Speaking of breakfast, each day Lalo (above with his wife, Maria who was one of the maids at the house) would cook us the most marvelous dishes. He was incredibly creative in presentation & the food was authentic gourmet. Here's a little sample of one of his fruit plates:
Note the sweet little seahorse carvings in the watermelon shell.
And there's Sam, glowing in the corner. She's an incredible woman; very talented, sweet & attentive to all our needs. I think her & my mom are chuckling here because my mom made the comment that the "Albertans" seemed to always be the first up to eat. Sam introduced each dish to us as we walked around the table filling our plates. There were many local dishes including stuffed poblano peppers, spiced jicama & lots of fresh fish. |
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The next day after we arrived was a "free day" so Pam, mom & I went down to the Malecon in the center of town. Here there are many artists making incredible sand sculptures & for a tip, you can take a picture. In this case, the sculptor hopped into the scene & then before I could snap the photo, he stopped me so that he could take off his shirt first ~ what a deal.
Loads of wacky sculptures adorn the Malecon, including this one by Sergio Bustamante.
Me, mom & Pam in front of the arches. Martin, the sculptor who works at Casa Alexandra (we also met him the night before) helped build these.
Chicken on the street... umm, I passed, but boy did they look *purdy*.
It's so nice to see green!
Do you remember me mentioning that we dug a trench & put our wires underground last year? I can't imagine having to do that with this mess of wires.
What's a photo diary of a tropical place without a classic beach shot? Makes me want to hop on a plane again & go straight back.
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