Buenas tardes! I want to begin with an apology. While my Nashville friends endured temps in the teens and twenties last week, and several inches of snow, I was out here in the tropics complaining that things weren’t perfect enough. I sounded ungrateful for this wonderful opportunity I’ve been given to maintain my mental health. For this I am sorry. 

Week two has been more pleasant. WiFi was restored on Thursday. This was great timing, as I started the Floret Online Workshop on Friday! I can’t wait to learn. Over the past few days, I’ve been putting together spreadsheets of my seeds and bulbs which makes me pretty giddy. I’m sure most of you would want to do anything but spreadsheets while living on the beach, but I am a weirdo. 

I took my maiden voyage on the bike this morning. WOW. That was so much harder than it was when I was 12. I rode a little over four miles, to the farmer’s market and back; stopping three times to get short breaks and some water. When I took the first stairs to the condo, my legs felt like jelly. Hopefully by the time I leave here, getting to the farmer’s market and back will be easy peasy. 

I’ve had one common question from friends since I arrived, and I thought it would be fun to ask what other questions y’all might have. The most frequently asked question is, “Do you get lonely?” This will sound a little heartless, but not really. Even when I have alone time at home, I’m never truly alone. My brain is filled with the noise of things that need to get done, things I should be doing, things I need to do more of, things that could go wrong at any given moment. I am an anxious person by nature, one of the jumpiest people I know. Massages for me are never about relaxing. They’re about working the knots out of my neck and shoulders, trying to get my body to release the tension I’ve always carried. Removing myself from life as usual is the only way I’ve found to quiet my brain. Out here, the only person I’m accountable to is myself. Being alone with my thoughts allows my brain to find that creative spark that so often gets drowned out by the musts, needs, and shoulds of Nashville. I’ve spent every evening on my balcony watching the sunset. I so rarely take the time to do this back home. 

I won’t say that I never get lonely. I do miss kissing Tim goodnight. I sometimes miss having a conversation in English. Another question I received was about the language barrier. I’ve been learning some Spanish on Duolingo. I work with a few Mexican people at the nursery; a couple of them speak some English. To communicate with Laura in the greenhouse, I use the SpanishDict app. I type something in English, and it will give me the phrase in Spanish. This isn’t always effective. Things get lost in translation. Out here, very few of the locals speak English. I know enough Spanish to manage grocery checkout and ordering in restaurants. At the flower market, I hand the owner a pen and Post-It pad when she tells me my total in Spanish. She is kind and obliging. In fact, she told me to return every Thursday for the freshest flowers…at least I think that’s what she said. The condo maintenance guy speaks zero English. We use Google Translate to communicate with mixed results. On the beach, most of the houses and condos around me are inhabited by English-speaking expats (another question I received). The farmer’s market I go to on Mondays are full of mostly American and Canadian vendors. I’m part of a Facebook group for Chelem expats. This is how I get my local news and updates. I was asked on Instagram to describe the town. Chelem is small, maybe a mile and a half from beginning to end. There is a main square and a few businesses on the roads leading into and out of town. Turning off of the main roads in town, you’ll find very shabby residences. The reality is that this is a poor fishing village. I wonder sometimes how the locals feel about so many expats moving into the area. I would imagine it helps their economy. The locals are friendly and patient with my lack of español, so I don’t sense any resentment about my being here. 

I hope this gross winter weather back in the states will soon dissipate. Thanks for reading! I’m working on setting up a mailing list. If you enjoy my blog posts and want to be notified when I post something new, you will soon be able to sign up for email notifications. Stay tuned!