Tag: mexico

Singing Breakthrough

On By ellenbessoIn Positivity, retirement2 Comments

Part of the magic of my first night on the beach at Tito’s was that it propelled me into singing open mic here in Melaque. 

 Don has always loved my singing and encouraged me to do it. I have a strong intuition that part of the spiritual experience on the beach that first night involved music… that Don was nudging me. 

It was no accident that someone told me about the next day’s open mic right there at Tito’s. I thought, “Why not!”. 

 I wanted to sing my current favorite song, The Rose, written by Amanda McBroom and performed by Bette Midler in the movie of that name. “That song would not work well with the band”, a kind singer told me. However her husband agreed to accompany me on guitar.

 I was told to arrive at 12:15 to sign up. Arriving at noon, I was way down on the list but determined to sing.

A neighbour from Gibsons came to support me, bringing several of her hotel friends with her. They cheered me as I went on stage, and she made a video of me singing. There was a lot of noise in the room, but I could still be heard, both live and on the video. 

 Highly motivated, I went to the next live mic three days later on Tuesday evening, also at Tito’s, by Jacks invitation. There, I learned that Jack and his wife sponsor both the Saturday and Tuesday events, donating all proceeds to help the most poverty-stricken Mexican families. 

Over 10 days, I performed five times at live mic, including one karaoke performance with an amazing young woman from the Canadian Navy. I met her right before she left town, and we sang “I’ll Fly Away” together, with me singing harmony at my request… Such fun! 

After that, I took a break for 10 days, realizing intuitively that the singing marathon, although incredible, had been intense and took lots of energy.

I began again fresh on a Tuesday night, singing at the smaller Jack and Friends venue. The time off helped me, and I felt I had hit my stride, singing two solos and Why Me Lord with Jack, a song I’d wanted to sing for a long time with a male singer, as I lean toward music with broad spiritual contexts.

 Jack has been amazingly helpful, encouraging and mentoring me; I would go so far as to say. Last Wednesday at karaoke, he told me I did a good job of Dolly Parton’s Wildflowers; however, I needed to practice lots to teach myself to stay within the confines of the karaoke music. (Karaoke is harder than singing open mic with Jack and Friends; the music does not slow down or speed up to follow my tempo; I must follow it!). 

I’ve begun my karaoke “homework”; however I’m looking at it as a long-term task as I am on vacation after all… And my goal here on the beach with its energy portal is healing myself spiritually. 

When I returned to Canada, I look forward to hitting the ground running, singing at least twice weekly, participating in every opportunity that appeals to me.

“Buenos Dias”

On By ellenbessoIn change, lifestyle changeLeave a comment

Finally, I managed to squeeze a blog out of myself! Everything seemed to pale after the experience of my first night here. I have tried a few times to no avail, but this morning, I felt the muse while sitting over my coffee here on the beach at Tito’s restaurant, where it all started. 

The town of Melaque is a typical Mexican Town in the sense that it is quite traditional. Although built up since our visit in 2001, it is not gentrified like Barra de Navidad around the bay. Even in 2001, we found Barra too chi chi for our liking and shifted to Melaque, where we secured a room in a Mexican hotel right on the beach for fewer pesos per night. 

 I go into the Town Center two or three times a week. It’s a good 20-minute walk, longer for me, hard on my body, and since I do not ride a bike, I take taxis when I go, at a cost of $15 Canadian round trip, including a generous tip.

There is a somewhat wider selection of food in the Town Center than in the Beach restaurants, but I’m still not able to get the amount of vegetables, etc, that I aim for on my new, cholesterol-lowering diet. 

I see my Gibsons’ friends, who have rented a beautiful house at the far end of town from time to time. They are struggling with repeated injuries, mostly from falls off their bicycles, incurred while riding on the bumpy cobblestones! 

Volunteer work has been challenging to find, as was the case last year in Bucerias. I don’t follow the common methods like paying an organization to volunteer. What is that about? We always ask ourselves, both here and in India.

I branch out on my own, seeking individuals and small organizations that may want my help. Two sessions of ESL with our hotel housekeepers were good… challenging for them as they have no English, and it was hard to book times. One of them has left now, so that is over. Fun while it lasted. 

My second volunteer job is at CENAC, the Western, almost one woman run Art Center in town. I have been in once to send a group thank you letter to donors who have contributed to the building of a second story upstairs, a valuable goal as it will offer more art and dance options to children from all economic stratas as well as adults.

That volunteer job is also a challenge; the manager is spread very thin and quite disorganized. 

I spend some time with my American friend from Texas and hotel folks, but I prefer to be alone on the beach as much as possible, soaking in the healing spiritual energy of the portal that is centered here at the west end of Melaque Beach.

So there you have a glimpse of my current daily life – more to come as I continue to unravel the past and the future.