Why My House Smells Like Pot

So I love my quiet neighborhood here in Cancun. Lots of families, very clean, everyone says hello, etc etc etc.

And then there’s my next door neighbor. A pretty normal-looking, average guy who isn’t at all friendly, but doesn’t really bother anyone either.

Yesterday I came home from work and I saw his dogs tied up to the window in the front yard. I figured, “Oh, they must be doing some work in the backyard.” I walked into my kitchen and was overwhelmed by the smell of pot in the air. I whined about it on Twitter, then went about my day since this is a pretty frequent occurence. (Our houses share a wall, so smells and noises frequently make their way over to our place.)

I sat on the couch and noticed some of my neighbor’s friends enter his house. Minutes later, I heard chanting in some unknown language coming from his backyard. I was about to go peek into his backyard from my upstairs window when the chanting was suddenly accompanied by what sounded like hammering. Confused and more than a little weirded out, I decided to stay put.

The chanting and banging eventually stopped and the men all came back out into the front yard. Jorge got home just then, and I heard them ask him a question and he responded cheerily.

When Jorge came into the living room, I said “What did they ask you?”

“They wanted me to check if their pigeon had flown into our backyard.”

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I really hope that pigeon made it to safety.

Mayan Animal Art and Other Surprises

So I have a 3-day weekend coming up, and it is going to be epic.

Spring Break is going strong in Cancun, so we might swing by Party Center one evening to see all the craziness. There will also be a wedding and at least two beach trips. I can’t wait!

The most exciting part is our Trash The Dress photo shoot this weekend at a surprise location. (Can’t say where it is just yet… but rest assured it’s STUNNING and I’ve been working on my tan.) If you want to follow along with my photo shoot this Sunday, I’ll be live tweeting, so follow me on Twitter at @CancunGringa.

I’ll leave you for the weekend with some pics of some new wall decor we hung in our living room last week. We bought these little critters on our trip to Ek Balam back in 2010, and we’re just now getting around to hanging them.

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I have a penchant for small reptiles, as well as brightly colored animal figurines. (It occurs to me that y’all have yet to see my alebrije collection! Soon!)

Dear Neighbors… Seriously?

So our house has been consistently invaded by animals this year, but I can’t figure out if they’re drawn to us out of love or hatred. Either way, they love hanging out there.

First there were the cockroaches and slugs (still there, but in much smaller quantities). Then, there were the evil cats (who no longer poop in our planter, thanks for all the tips!). I also saw a teeny tiny frog in the kitchen last week, but at least he was cute. Now… ok, I seriously can’t even explain this one. My Facebook and Twitter friends already know that one of our neighbors a few houses down has acquired a rooster.

A ROOSTER.

A ROOSTER THAT CROWS.

A ROOSTER THAT HAS LEARNED TO CLIMB NOT ONE, BUT SEVERAL BACKYARD WALLS.

Apparently our house is a Mecca for Yucatan wildlife.

What animal do you think will be next? Place your bets!

Operation Chile Cat Part 2

Two weeks ago, Jorge began Operation Chile Cat to rid our front tree planter of cat poop. With just one night of chile powder set around the ledges of the planter, it seems we were partially successful. As it turns out, we had TWO neighborhood cats pooping in our planter, and now that number has been reduced to ONE.  *evil grin*

Saturday night we heard about 10 minutes of yowling from outside, and I just chalked it up to some “naughty business” going on with the neighborhood cats. Jorge looked out our front window to see 3 cats sitting outside our front gate, looking at our house and yowling. I think they’re on to us.

At the recommendation of my reader Johanna, we decided to kick it up a notch by using coffee grounds. Last night, Jorge poured chile powder and coffee grounds around the planter, then sprinkled some in the dirt.

Game on.

An Insincere Apology to Cat Owners Everywhere

So Jorge hates cats. This hatred goes all the way back to childhood, when the neighborhood street cats would tear open his family’s garbage bags and litter the remains outside their front gate.

In our current neighborhood, several of our neighbors have cats that they let roam free. We didn’t have a problem with this until they started pooping in our planter.

Tired of cleaning up cat poop (why does our life seem to center around animal feces?) and having a smelly front patio, Jorge came up with a Master Plan.

Chili powder.

Excited and with just a hint of crazy in his eyes, Jorge picked up a small bottle of chili powder at Walmart last night. It was time to put the Master Plan into effect.

He scattered a line of chili powder around all the edges of the planter so the cats would have no choice but to land in it if they wanted to poop in our dirt. I heard him mutter, “Espero que esos cabrones vengan HOY.” (“I hope those bastards come TONIGHT.”)