I spent my sixtieth birthday doing nothing spectacular - checked out the local art gallery, did some window shopping, started reading a book by Isabel Allende. I also took the first of the Spanish classes I've seen posted at the office. It was disappointing. It was a class for people who hadn't figured out how to say "Buenos dias" yet, and it really didn't go anywhere. I'll check out the slightly more advanced class on Thursday morning, but I don't expect much.

Before class this morning, I went to the office to pay for another month here. Silvano, the young man at the desk, adjusted our first week's rent to the monthly rate, threw a few extra days in to adjust for the shortness of February, and gave me a Totonaka t-shirt. What a deal. We are all paid up to March 26.

http://www.totonakarv.com/contact.html

R and I have decided that tomorrow we will unhook the rv and drive to Guaymas, leaving a table and chairs to mark our spot against invaders (It seems that half of Canada is in San Carlos now, trolling for hookups). We will stop at the estuary, tie the canoe to a ring and lock it, then drive in to Guaymas to look around. We will just leave the canoe at the estuary. That way we can cycle over and go for a paddle whenever we like.

Although the Spanish class was a dud, I do look forward to the cooking classes. I'm becoming absolute dynamite at cooking beans, and Maria's classes should expand my horizons considerably. Wednesday's class is on the varieties of chiles, and on Friday morning there's a field trip to the mercado in Guaymas. Each of us is to decide in advance what kind of salsa she wishes to make, and Maria will help us buy the appropriate ingredients. When we come back from Guaymas, we'll all retire to our own homes and make our various salsas. At 330 in the afternoon, we'll get together for show and tell and eat. sigh.

It's Saturday, isn't it? Maybe that's why I can get the internet from the Turtle instead of having to go to the clubhouse. It comes and it goes, so while it's here, I'll take advantage.

This morning, for the first time, R and I rode our bikes out to the estuary known as Estero el Soldado. It was a forty-five minute level ride from the park, very pleasant. When we got there we were delighted with what we found. There were pelicans, cormorants, egrets, gulls, and apparently plenty of fish. Right after we arrived, a cormorant caught a fish and was holding it above his head. The fish was flapping. Suddenly a pelican swooped in behind the cormorant, reached over his shoulder, and grabbed the fish.

We were only there for a few minutes, long enough for me to grab some photos. Then we cycled home, planning to go back with the canoe. We decided to talk to some neighbours about it - they could drive us and the canoe over in their truck and pick us up a couple of hours later. Then we could leave the canoe in their truck, and they could use the canoe the next day - or vice versa. What a plan. When we got home, I made breakfast while R went to talk to the neighbours. He came back saying you apparently have to be really careful about canoeing or kayaking in the estuary, because if the tide goes out while you're there, you can get well and truly stranded. Sounds as if we need to get hold of a tide table for San Carlos before we get too adventurous.

Meanwhile, though, discovering the estuary has given us a reason to stay longer in San Carlos. We will probably book in for an extra week, which makes me happy. It will give me a chance to do the field trip to Guaymas with the cooking class, and maybe get in one more class after that. Also, we have an interesting destination for morning cycle rides. Maybe tomorrow we'll pack a lunch and do some serious bird watching.
The birds don't seem the least bit skittish. They must get a lot of gawkers. A couple that came along while we were there said they have cycled and hiked around the estuary many times, and that it is well worth the effort. Not that you can cycle "around" the estuary as such, but you can follow several different paths that give you a good half-hour's exploration time by bike, much longer on foot, I would imagine.

Here is my favourite picture. I'm afraid that all the motion did awful things to the focus, but you can probably still get a good idea of what I was trying to capture.
One of these days I'll remember to take along a towel or something to throw over my head while I'm taking pictures. I always seem to be trying to photograph stuff I can't see in the camera. If I had been able to see this, I would probably have swung the camera a little to the right. Guess I won't quit my day job just yet!

I've had fun today, at least this afternoon. The day started out with laundry detail, general housework, then finishing Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the four-part trilogy) so R can have it to read without having to pinch it from me. I had said I would go on a photo binge, but the laundry/housework/reading stuff took up most of the day, so I limited my binge to in and around the park. I started out with the office building, which contains the clubhouse, where I'm sitting right now.

I have to carry the laptop from where we are parked, which is way at the back of the park, but after the Mazatlan experience, I'm not finding it particularly onerous. There are no iguanas in here, but there is a map of North America into which people have stuck pins indicating where they live. There are so many pins in the southern British Columbia/Vancouver Island area, I couldn't find a place to put one.


I walked out to the road and took a couple of pictures of what we see, including one wall that always amuses me. When we've been out walking or cycling, I use that wall as my navigational aid.




Looking north along the main road, you can see the mountain that seems to be San Carlos's official symbol. There isn't a whole lot to this town, but it's a relaxing place to stay, except on days like today.



We are right across the road from the beach. Since we got back this time, we haven't walked up the beach. That should be on the agenda for tomorrow.






Today, after the housework and reading and picture taking, I went to the palapa for a cooking class.



A woman named Maria apparently does these classes every week for five weeks, then starts the cycle again with a class on the kinds of chiles and what to do with them. That's next week's class, the one I really want to hear. Today's class was on chiles rellenos. One of the women in the park had inadvertently missed the class and wanted the recipe. I told her I would go home and put it in an e-mail to her, which I did. So here is the recipe:

Chiles Rellenos

Recipe gleaned from Maria’s cooking class at Totonaka RV Park

6 roasted, peeled poblano chiles
Filling (cheese/tomato, cooked chicken, cooked ground beef, or whatever)
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
3 eggs (if I remember correctly), at room temperature, separated
Oil for frying

Have all the ingredients out and ready to go.

Make a small slit in each chile and carefully remove the seeds and membrane. Set the chiles aside.

Make a filling. Maria suggests sliced Chihuahua cheese and diced tomato. You could also use tuna, shrimp, ground beef or chicken. Meat must be pre-cooked.

Lightly stuff the chiles, fasten each of them closed with a toothpick, and set them aside.

Beat the egg whites until they are quite stiff, then fold in the egg yolks – be careful. The mixture should not fall.

Combine the flour, salt and pepper on a plate.

Heat the oil in a frying pan at a medium high setting. You will want a pan big enough to cook two chiles at a time. Oil should be about as deep as if you were frying chicken.

One at a time, dip the chiles in the flour mixture. Coat them completely. I think Maria made the point that they should be completely coated, but not to get carried away. ;>)

Hold the chile by its stem and dip the whole thing into the egg mixture.

Fry two at a time, about 4 minutes on each side. They should be well browned, but not burned. Drain them on paper towels. Serve immediately with a salsa of your choice.

*****So next Wednesday I get to learn all about the various kinds of chiles (I found out today that my two favourites are really the same one. When it's dried, its name changes. Never mind. I'll expand my horizons, learn to make my own Really Good Salsas. There's a field trip to the mercado in Guaymas on Friday. I hope we're still here for that.