Spanglish Chick

My editor, Tamara and I woke up to the chilly weather…No surprise, right? Wrong. What happened to our Spring? Well, we decided to take a break..I mean, come on, we have been going non-stop since we got here. We checked in Thursday and then headed for the showcases. We made Ozomatli’s concert at Auditorium Shores which was awesome….not only were they great but somehow the concert grounds were almost spotless. Wow I was impressed. Then we ended our night with Ladies Lotto & Lola Ink presenting “Low Down”- an unofficial SXSW showcase (we’ll have more details on them later).
Friday afternoon, at Cafe Mundi, we were entertained by Bo-Peep, Girl in a Coma,

plus a few others. Alot of us are on a budget so the Austin venues are having free concerts to keep people entertained. Smart move….but I don’t mind paying for someone I really want to see. We paid to see the Japan Nite Showcase at Elysium, watching JinnyOops! along with another talented band from Japan then it was off to other venues. We stopped in to Buffalo Billards…Margaret Cho was gonna be there…well I am not a fan. Hehe…now I remember why…oh well. Next Club Vice, the editor knows one of the showcasers, DJ Cat. She was spinning some excellent music…I mean it had everyone on the floor, moving…hehe…you should have seen their moves. Next year someone should have a free dance workshop….Anyone??
Tonight they host the SXSW Music Awards…plus a million different bands in many different venues. The options are endless….what will we choose?
P.S.Don’t worry Tamara got some great shots and we will have them up soon.

UPDATE: Check out our Flickr feed at the bottom of the front page. SXSW pics are up!

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Well, we are off to Austin this morning to check out SXSW! We’ll be making updates as we can. Check out our facebook and twitter pages for any kind of randomness we throw out there. We hope to hit up some good venues and parties to report back to you! We’ve been pretty busy the last few weeks, and hope to bring you some cool stories after we return. I (tamara) have one pending about Latina Jews, look for it closer to Passover. Our founder (Eloisa) has one coming up about her opinion on education. And of course, we always have contributors and we like to write about stuff we’re thinking about in between. Enjoy your weekend friends! besos …

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It was a couple of weeks before I had to go back to work and I had my woes about life.  I had just broke up with my idiot boyfriend and I was in the midst of production of an awesome dance show at this independent theatre plus I had had a car wreck where the insurance company decided to investigate.  I was letting it all out to my High School friend…. “I feel like I need a vacation…I’m gonna need some time to replenish before going back to deal with a bunch of high schoolers.”

My friend Lara said, “Well meet me in Belize –I’ve rented a cottage on the beach down there so all you have to take care of is your airplane ticket.”

I was stunned, “Really, don’t tease me…where exactly?”

“Placencia”

Even the name of the place sounded stress free to me. And we would be on the beach – I was so in.

We spent the next couple of weeks preparing for the trip.  She lived in Oklahoma City so she sent me links via Facebook about the place we would stay, tours we could take, and the how to get there from Houston.

She got there a couple of days ahead of me so my family was worried about me traveling alone.  I had to admit the passport check lines were long and I had never been in a small airplane before so I don’t know if I was more excited or nervous, but finally I made it to the cottage where it was cocktail hour. The water was so blue it would sparkle and the tides seem to strip all of my tension away.   I would be there for a week.

We stayed in Colbri House…it had an upstairs and downstairs rental but along the beach there were other rental cottages, guesthouses, and a few hotels……. yet it did not seem crowded as we made the local scene at the restaurants and bars.

On different days we went shopping….they had talented local artists that worked in all sorts of mediums from carving on coconuts to paintings on canvases. I admit I ended up buying a few things for myself.

The local markets, which there were only three we went to, could not be compared to a HEB but they carried this hot habanero pepper sauce, Marie Sharp that Lara introduced me to.  This spicy, delectable sauce seemed to go with everything.  It only seemed wise thing to do to bring some home.

Children on the island would come sell us pastries on different days which would go great in the morning with coffee or tea.

One day we went on a snorkeling tour off another small island……it was my first time. We had guides along our side as we swam around the island viewing the beautiful coral reefs, many varieties of tropical fish, and poisonous jellyfish. Everyone was hoping to see a stingray. It took my breath away as I snapped pictures trying to keep my equilibrium. The tour provided lunch on the island…..chicken and dirty rice. Yum.

At our place Lara had rented the downstairs which when you walked out the front door there was a hammock that just enticed you to lie in it for hours as you read or napped. I personally would get in it at the end of the night….the wind blowing through the palm trees…the tides rolling in….I would stare up at the stars looking up at the universe.   I could have stayed for there forever.

Now whenever I am having a bad day or stress seems to be taking over I just sit back and think about those days in Placenica….it makes me smile knowing I am planning a trip for the near future.

If you want to plan a trip then check out this website http://www.placencia.com/

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