Near Puerto Escondido (day 5)

Friday February 27…8:30pm

We relaxed for the morning, and then around 11:00am Marie came by and asked if we wanted to go into town with them. We thought that maybe we could go to the market and that I could use the internet, so we agreed to go with them.

Marie and Alfredo had to do some more paperwork for their wedding, and so we went to the local municipal offices first. Everything was in order, except because they have a child together, the office needed that paperwork as well. Alfredo and I drove all the way back to their house (about 7 kms) while Ruth and Marie filled out the rest of the forms. Ruth and I are being the witnesses for Marie, and so we had to fill out the appropriate forms as well as give copies of our passports. Finally, everything was in order, and the wedding is scheduled for Monday afternoon at 3:00pm. This all seems very “last minute”, but nobody is concerned about that. Alfredo’s relatives are all in the area, and I guess somehow everyone will show up who needs to. Apparently there will be a party, because Marie mentioned that they will be buying 25 chickens, and that there will be dancing…this should be very interesting!

Marie, who will turn 21 on Tuesday, doesn’t have any close family. She was tossed between relatives as a child and ended up in the US for eight years under the care of an aunt. She met Alfredo, who is 25, two years ago when he was visiting his uncle in the US, and they returned to Mexico together.

After we had all the paperwork complete, we were all feeling hungry, and Marie and Alfredo insisted on buying us lunch despite our plea that we return home where it would be cheaper. We ended up at a spot in downtown Puerto Escondido…we each had a very good (and inexpensive) meal. I love it when the price of a cold beer in a restaurant is less than one dollar!

I tried to use an internet café down the road from the restaurant, but for some reason they wouldn’t let me use my own laptop. I hate using their computers because the keyboards are in Spanish and I have a hard time getting anything done without my own saved favourite websites. So I just declined, and we’ll find a way to get online tomorrow. Then, we went to a long distance telephone place where Marie called her uncle in Toronto and her aunt in Ohio. We tried to call Ruth’s Mom and Dad, but there was no answer. Then we tried my Mom and Dad, and again got no answer. Then, we tried our daughter Lindsey…and once again didn’t get any answer. Nobody wanted to talk to us today!

We are now committed to staying where we are until Tuesday morning. That’s okay, because we are being looked after really well.

Total nights sleeping in a motorhome…491

February Fuel $136.00 CAN

February Grocery $218.67 CAN

February Overnight costs $ 119.60 CAN