In 2009-2010 I returned to Zihuatanejo. Because I thought it was a great place to sit and write a book. My plan was to refine my book and enjoy the ocean. So I caught a flight in September and sat back for a peaceful return to my favorite city.

And Then The Universe Kicked My Butt

Have you ever thought you were so cool and worldly that you could just catch a flight and land in some foreign country without a thought to what might go wrong? Being in this frame of mind I returned to Mexico to the little village of Zihuatanejo. With my know- it- all attitude and self assurance, I caught the local bus from the airport instead of paying through the teeth for a taxi. Very smartly I returned to the nice, reasonable priced, clean hotel that I remembered from previous trips. Everything was going just as smoothly as I had planned. Why shouldn’t it? I’d done this trip before, and the Universe just smiled, and I’d go on my smart-ass way.
The next morning I set out to see about renting my old apartment, hoping it was available. My ex-landlady Ada, and I had a big hug and chatted about what had been happening in Zihua while I’d been gone. Then I asked about renting one of her apartments. I and was a little disappointed when she didn’t have one available. Sweet Ada smiled and said, “But my sister has a lovely apartment for rent.” Come on, we’ve all heard that one before. There is always a relative that has what you need. “Ok, I’ll go look but I can’t pay more than $300-$350 a month.” Ada’s sister agreed to the price and off we went to see her three-bedroom, three- bath, for $350USD a month. Yes, I am doubtful but it will be fun to see it. To my amazement it was wonderful, really wonderful. What did I need with three bedrooms, or three bathrooms when it’s just me? Who cares? I wanted it. This place was better than I could ever imagine? So without looking any further I took it, and asked her to sign a contract so she couldn’t change her mind. This was way too good to be true! The prices for apartments in the central area are usually that much for a studio or one bedroom. Still in the mind frame of: Oh, it is all just so easy when you know what you are doing. I moved in that same day.
My kitchen is the cutest kitchen in all of Mexico. I am sitting at the table drinking coffee and doing some writing when I look up and there is a very big person standing in the middle of my kitchen. I ‘m not sure if it is a man or a woman, but which ever it is big. I am so startled I’m not sure what to do, so I yell at this person, “What are you doing? What do you want? Go, go! Get out of here”. Then this person mumbled, “I go bathroom.” “No, you go away.” Then I jumped-up and locked my door.
Several days later I was talking to Fatty, my landlady, and she told me that her daughter liked to use my bathroom, and might come upstairs to use it, at times. “No! That is not possible. You must tell her she can’t do that any longer, because I live there now.”
Oh, yes then there is the rooster that roosts in the tree directly outside my bedroom window that crows not at day-break, but at 3:30—4:00—4:30 in the morning, every morning. He seems to crow for about 30 minutes and then rests for 30 minutes to resume his crowing. Just when you are falling asleep, there he goes again, until dawn. My favorite song now is They’ve Come to Kill the Rooster, and I wish someone would. I bought a sling-shot in hopes of persuading him to give up his roost. The first one was plastic and it immediately broke. Then I bought another wood one, and I now have big bruises on my wrist from trying to hit even the tree. The rooster remains in the tree, at this point in time.
My apartment is on the second floor of a nice little house, with beautiful plants encircling it. Sitting in my kitchen you feel like you're in the jungle, as you’re surrounded by huge trees and vines, with flowers everywhere, and birds flying in and out of the big mango tree. It’s sort of like living in a tree-house.
The kitchen is an open-kitchen, with ornate metal work, but no true walls or windows. The metal has designs of stars, octopus, sea-shells, and a couple of cute fish. It’s very airy and open, and it's just darling, which I loved until last tonight. As I was turning off the kitchen lights, the bats arrived. They buzzed through and I’d be lying if I told you there were more than one, but it seemed like dozens. I have no idea because I covered my head and ran into the bedroom, not returning until this morning. Now I plan to leave the lights on and just hope they stay away. God, how I hate bats!
The other thing about my lovely airy, open kitchen with it’s ornate metal designs is: when it rains. Well, when it rains, it floods not only my kitchen, but my bedroom is lower, so it floods there also. With the slightest breeze, the rain drowns my kitchen. I had sort of wonder what it would be like when it rained. Now I know! I’m happy to say it’s the end of the rainy season, or I would be spending my time mopping, instead of writing.
Now there is a new addition to my discomfort; someone practicing the trumpet. He has to be a beginner because it is horrid, and he plays it at 10:30 at night and 6:30 every morning. I’m thinking of offering him an outrageous amount of money for his trumpet or buying him a guitar. I’m not sure which is worse the rooster or the trumpet.
The worst thing about my lovely apartment is rather hard to describe, without sounding like a real bitch, but it’s the most difficult to live with. The people next door have a mentally handicapped young woman, and she screams, and screams, and screams. However, the other noise she makes for long periods of time, sounds like a person having a sexual experience. You may laugh; but this goes on two or three times a day, and it is loud, really loud. Oh, yes, and then there is a baby that cries half the day. In the past, I thought the loud music played in Mexico was annoying, ha, now they can play it as loud as they like, and I’ll never complain. Sometimes it would be a blessing, just to deaden the noises from next-door.
Moral of my story: “When it sounds too good, it probably is!” But I think the truth is: it was just a small message from the Universe kicking my butt and telling me to not be such a smart-ass, and that I still have many lessons to learn.
Through all this craziness, I still laugh and think it's quite fun living in my airy, open kitchen, with roosters crowing and people screaming. It's another adventure that I wouldn't trade for anything.