Day of the Dead in Mexico

In Spanish it is called Dia de los Muertos.

When we first moved to Mexico I did not understand this holiday or this concept. As with everything we do not understand, it even scared me a little. Why did Mexicans display skeletons and skulls made out of sugar?

It turns out that the whole emphasis is on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life. Now this I can get behind.

Alters are made and graves are decorated to celebrate the lives of loved ones passed away. If artistic skeletons are used, they are often adorned with the type of clothes the deceased would have worn. Their favorite food and drink and cherished possessions are put out in hopes their spirits will be enticed to visit.

This special time is celebrated November 1st and 2nd. I better get preparing!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

A great Mexican house painter

I made my painter feel bad on the weekend. First, let me tell you we have found the best painter you could ever hope to have. He comes from Chiapas and really knows his stuff. He painted the outside of our house just before Hurricane Wilma and we were practically the only people who did not have to repaint their house!

He is here again to paint our wall and gate now, as well as the inside of our house. So what happened? Saturday I arrived home to find the metal on our gate painted orange! Turns out it was only the rust protector coat and black will be painted over top but he saw my initial reaction when I returned home and was so upset that I seemed upset that today when he came to work he brought me a huge container of apple juice as an apology for upsetting me!

Only in Mexico you say? Maybe. All I know is that I feel pretty darn lucky to have found such a great guy to paint our house. Now, how do I apologize to him for making him feel bad?

He is in Playa del Carmen for six months. Let me know if you need a painter!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com

Holiday from Mexico

How interesting does that sound? We are taking a holiday away from Mexico.

Shawn and I are going to go play in another playground for a week to celebrate our 24th Wedding Anniversary! We are headed to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. A holiday is one thing, but we would not want to get too far from a beach and palm trees!

I hope we remember the English language! Not to worry, I hear a lot of people speak Spanish there! Whew! Then I will not be too homesick. Maybe we can even eat some Tex-Mex! You know the stuff with ground beef and sour cream and cheddar cheese. Believe it or not I miss that – you just can’t get it here.

Don’t tell my husband, but I am looking forward to shopping there! I always need baking supplies that you can’t get here and I may also need just a few other things….. like a gift for our house sitters (someone has to take care of our garden!).... and maybe still a few other things....
How many bags can we return with?

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com

I love my Mexican bananas!

Living in Mexico we now have banana trees in our yard! How cool is that?

I’m currently waiting for the next batch to ripen. Family and friends are eagerly awaiting banana bread, banana pancakes, banana smoothies, banana piña coladas, and banana cream pie.

The only little challenge is that the whole batch of 200 or so bananas often all comes ripe at the same time. Well this makes our neighbors and friends happy - at least at first - after awhile they start running the other way when they see us – oh no, not more bananas please. Interestingly they can’t get enough banana bread?!

Feel free to share any great banana recipes you have with me as I am in the preparation and anticipation stage now! Later, I may be tired of bananas....but then I forget and I anticipate the next batch yet again. I love my banana trees!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com