Movies & Music

We recently finished watching "Destinos", a 52-episode Spanish telenovela about a Mexican American attorney and private investigator named Raquel Rodriguez who is commissioned to find the lost heirs of a well-to-do Spaniard now living in Mexico. Raquel travels to Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico and finally Mexico in her successful effort to reunite the man with grandchildren previously unknown to him.

You're wondering how we learned enough Spanish to watch a Spanish telenovela? Well, actually, it's a programmed learning system and you learn Spanish while following the events of the investigation. We're certainly not fluent yet, nor even comfortable with the language, but we did learn a lot and we enjoyed the story and its characters. We especially liked the fact that Raquel winds up engaged to marry the psychiatrist she meets in Argentina.

In other news, we were surprised to hear that the movie, The Aviator, was coming to town. We went to see it a couple nights ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. With the exception of movies targeted at children, virtually all (English-language) movies are shown here in English with Spanish subtitles; i.e., they are not dubbed in Spanish. The Spanish subtitles are another way to learn a little more Spanish as you hear the spoken English and see the written Spanish below. In fact, when watching our own DVDs, we sometimes turn on the Spanish subtitles for that very reason.

One of the things we like about Zihuatenejo is its two theaters and the ease of getting our movie fix. A few days ago we did a double-feature: "Wimbledon" and "A Series of Unfortunate Events". We enjoyed both of them and at less than $3 for a double-feature, it's quite a bargain.

Lately, we've been getting back to playing music again, not just Steve, but Kay as well. Ever since the guitar jam session back at Barra de Navidad, Steve has been getting out his guitar every now and then to practice a few tunes. And since we've been in Zihuatenejo, Kay has gotten out her Omnichord (electronic harpsichord). In addition to practicing with just the two of us, we recently had Kevin and Kathy of Tau Min (Bainbridge Is, WA) on board with their guitar and synthesized keyboard respectively. Then just yesterday, the four of us got together with the crews of three other boats; Pegasus, Tumbleweed and Effie; for a jam session and singalong on the beach in the shade of some palm trees. We did a little of everything: Eagles, CCR, Stones, Bobby Darin, Johnny Horton, etc. Kay debated for quite awhile before we left whether to bring her Omnichord since she had played it so little back home. Now, she's glad she brought it.

Thanks to Steve's accident, we've been in Zihuatenejo a bit longer than planned. But now it's time for us to attend to the chores necessary to prepare us for the voyage back north, primarily reprovisioning, refueling and the like.