Zihua.- Wed.Feb. 25

This morning, after Sally and Jenny's yoga class on the beach, we parted company with Jenny and Joe for most of the day. They staked out a couple of lounges and an umbrella on Playa la Ropa while Sally and I walked along the beach into town. We had little on our agenda but to find an ATM where we could swipe our cards instead of relinquishing them into the machine (Lots of horror stories about people losing their cards!).
Our modest agenda escalated into a real challenge when we found that Sally's card was rejected by several ATMs. A long phone call and an hour later, Visa had fixed the problem and voila! -- almost instantaneously -- the same machines gladly took (and returned, with cash) her card.
We stopped along the Paseo de Pescadores for a light lunch. With my stomach feeling pretty shaky, I ordered a lemon soda and a bowl of fish soup, which, simple as it sounded, turned out to be spectacular, with a whole huachinango (red snapper) in the bowl.
About 5:30, Joe and Jenny joined us for the five mile jaunt to Ixtapa for dinner. What a disappointment! None of had ever been there before, so we had no idea even where to start. Between the stark barrier of high-rise beach hotels and a small area of uninteresting one-story shops and restaurants, and after being rejected by a couple of hotel restaurants for our lack of a reservation and long pants, we were finally able to find a nice little place for dinner. We hired some mariachis to seranade us, which was very nice. There's nothing quite like the blend of guitar, violin, bass, trumpets and voice, especially when they surround your table! We hoped it would be a nice memory for Jenny and Joe's last night with us in our little paradise.
Our cab driver for the trip back to Zihua, Ornelio, was very friendly. He and I chatted constantly in the front seat during the trip. As my Spanish improves, I'm beginning to experience more and more such moments in which I realize I'm talking without having to think "what's that word?" or "what's the right tense?"