Back to Reality

Even though I haven't left Zihua, it feels like I've been on vacation for the past week. Going out to dinner and spending afternoons at the beach are typically a once a week occurrence for me, but when we have visitors all that changes. But just because I'm on vacation mode, that doesn't mean the rest of the town slows down.

I haven't posted about fires, the police, or random animals in awhile, but they haven't ceased their shenanigans. Just yesterday we saw half a mountain on fire, we passed a military check-point that included a troop truck filled with armed soldiers, and we had to abandon part of our day because of a possible retaliation killing. Last week men dressed as the federal police killed eleven people, including the two sons of a former mayor, and kidnapped his daughter. They still haven't caught the men responsible so we decided touring the city where that happened probably wasn't the smartest idea. I'm pretty sure the check-point was part of the real police's efforts to find them.

This morning I brought our friend to the airport and on the way back to the city saw burro in the median. Burros are everywhere in Mexico and it's common to see them along the highway, but this was at the entrance to town. Maybe it belonged to the men trimming the trees that are shapes like baskets and roosters (also in the median). A couple blocks further I saw a sheep tied to a tree in front of the bus station. I've seen a lot of goats but never a sheep, and certainly not in the middle of town.

I've seen the usual stray dogs and cats, but today they were all sleeping in whatever shade they can find. It's been close to 100 degrees with the heat index and everyone has slowed down a bit. Even the roosters. Last night when we went to bed it was 85 degrees inside our place, with 80% humidity. Caliente!