Sunday ; Mix of sun and clouds, very warm, light breeze.
This morning we went for a walk to the mercado, not because we needed frutas y verduras yet, but because we wanted to buy barbacoa borrego (barbecued, shredded lamb) at La Barbacha, the restaurant across the street from the mercado that is open only on Sundays, serving only barbacoa borrego. By the time we arrived there between noon and 1 PM … <sigh> … they had none left. Strange business model ; offer only one product, offer it only one day per week, sell out before 1 PM ! At nearby Super Willy’s we bought some items Joanne needs for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner preparations.
Shortly after arriving back at home … my phone rang. The incoming call indicated a Mexican phone number. HUH ? Only two people have our Mexico phone number, and they’re both back in Canada. It was a very difficult conversation with a woman who spoke no English. But … she was patient and persistent. Good thing ! She was the Amazon delivery driver delivering Santa’s gift to me ! HA HA HA ! The gate into our apartment building’s grounds is locked. She was outside the gate trying to deliver Santa’s package to me. Muchas gracias, señorita.
While Joanne was preparing supper I was playing around on the bedroom’s TV trying to find something in English to watch. Slim pickings ! I found an English language Christmas movie” entitled “Perro de Navidad” / Christmas Dog. It may very well be the worst movie we have ever seen. Most of the actors were ten year old children. The few adults that were in it (parents, FBI agents) were without a doubt all wannabe or failed porn stars. We watched the movie after having supper. I hope I redeemed myself at bedtime by VPN’ing into Toronto and setting up for us to lie in bed and watch last night’s episode of SNL.
Monday ; Sunny, warm, light breeze … a perfect “June 18” kind of day.
This morning we went for a combination exercise and errands walk. First we dropped off a load of dirty laundry at the lavanderia. Next was OXXO to buy a few items needed to prepare the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners Joanne has planned. Then across the street to Carne Mart to buy a whole chicken for Christmas dinner, and some ground beef for Christmas Eve’s tourtière dinner. Christmas Eve tourtière dinner will be the larger challenge. We were unable to buy prepared pie crust / plan A. We were unable to buy frozen pastry dough / plan B. We lack some of the kitchen equipment to make pie dough / crust from scratch, but … will have to do the best we can. Joanne is (stubbornly) determined ! We refilled our water jug on the way home.
Late in the afternoon we went for another walk, this time to replenish buns and pastries, and to find a nearby Belizean restaurant Joanne is interested in trying. We found it, she’s game to try it, I’m skeptical / pessimistic about the place.
In the evening, after supper, we watched the final episode of The Amazing Race. On and off throughout the day we researched / explored options for next winter.
Tuesday ; Sunny and warm.
After an early lunch we walked all the way to Mercado Nuevo, the New Market, to replenish vegetables and fruits. On the way back home we stopped at Super Willy’s to replenish a few needed grocery items, then stopped again at Carnes Chetumal, our favourite neighbourhood deli (and butcher) to purchase luncheon meat and cheeses. They were very busy today, with many women purchasing huge quantities of meats. Holy Mackerel … how many people are each of these women expecting for Christmas dinner ? ! ?
Once again we spent (too much) time today researching our accommodation options for next winter.
Just before dusk we went out again, this time to pick up our laundered clothing at the lavanderia, and refill our water jug at the aqua purificado machine.
Supper was a joint effort. Joanne prepared and I cooked. WOO-HOO … I “invented” / created a wonderful new recipe.
Also … Joanne researched … where I should buy her a birthday gift in Oaxaca. HA HA HA ! You kind of have to admire that level of confidence and optimism, n’est-ce pas ?
Wednesday ; Overcast and mild. Occasional rain, sometimes heavy. By Mexico standards … cold winter weather ! All the local dogs are wearing sweaters. Our apartment building’s resident manager is wearing a toque ! HA HA HA ! Even I wore long legged pants for the first time since arriving in Mexico almost two months ago.
Before lunch we went for a walk for exercising, exploring, and to buy some crema de arnica for Joanne at Farmacia YZA (eeza). She has developed a swollen and extremely bruised middle finger on her right hand. Maybe from carrying the full water jug with its little plastic handle ? More likely from carrying a heavy bag (we each had one) filled with fruits and vegetables and cheeses and luncheon meats all the way home from yesterday’s mercado shopping trip. When she “flips the bird” it’s really ugly. HA HA HA <SNORT> HA HA.
After lunch and a nap I worked on next year’s budget planning. HMMM … perhaps it’s time to “loosen the purse strings” a little ?
After supper I VPN’ed into Toronto and we watched three Christmas shows on CBC Gem, then watched The National. HMPH … slow news day in Canada today !
Thursday ; Sunny and warm, a bit humid in the afternoon.
Our toilet flusher arm broke this morning. Our landlord (Carlos) and landlady (his wife Lucero) are very responsive to our notifications of maintenance issues, most of which seem to be plumbing related, as was also the case in Playa del Carmen. Around 5 PM Carlos showed up, Tweedledum in tow, don’t know where Tweedledee was, don’t know why Tweedledum needed to be chauffeured here by Carlos. It took Tweedledum about half an hour to replace the broken toilet flusher arm. Seems to me that’s about a five minute job, especially since I had already lifted off the tank cover and removed the broken flusher arm, so … job half done before his arrival, but HEY … I’m not a “professional” plumber !
Around 4 PM we went out for an exercise walk and to run some simple errands. For the third time this week we walked to the location of a local Belizean restaurant, confirmed by the signage on the building’s gate. Each time all we see inside the gate is an old abuela sitting in her living room, and a barking pit bull trying to get through the gate and kill us ! Carlos later confirmed for us that the restaurant has been closed for a long time. It’s very common … and extremely irritating to this OCD gringo … that here in Mexico redundant signage is simply left in place. FFS … how much trouble is it to remove plastic signage attached to your gate by plastic cable ties, years after your restaurant has closed, or since you bought the property from the previous owners who operated a restaurant. HEY … GRAMMA … I have my Swiss army knife in my pocket. You want me to remove that signage for you ? ? ? ! ! ! It will take me about trente ****ing momentitos !
<taking deep breath>
We walked to restaurant “plan B” to check out their menu, and will return in a couple of hours (it’s currently 5:45 PM). We bought milk and Diet Coke at OXXO, buns, muffins, and cookies at Panaderia Alicia, and refilled our water jug before returning home.
Just before 7 PM we left to have dinner at Diaz Grill Taquerias. It was wonderful ! With quick and efficient service from both waiter and kitchen. I had a costra cecina de rez. Joanne had a gringa al pastor con piña. We shared a papas con champiñones. Their “side dish” of roasted onions was superb. We were back home shortly after 8 PM.
Joanne thinks maybe we should go out for dinner more frequently. Sure … why not ? !
Friday ; Mostly overcast, very warm, a bit humid.
Ever since my father died on Christmas Eve … 28 years ago … at age 70, I have endured an overwhelming battle with depression (including fatigue and extreme negativity … BAH, HUMBUG) every year in the days leading to Christmas. I can intellectualize it, but can’t seem to be able to defeat it. It’s perplexing that it has persisted for so many years.
This morning we went out for an exercise walk to nowhere in particular. This afternoon we went out for another exercise walk, this one leading to the three nearby delis where we have previously bought luncheon meats and cheeses. Choice #1 was already closed (at 5 PM) so we checked out choice #3 next door, then crossed the street to buy luncheon meat and cheeses at choice #2.
I puttered around on the computer, selecting photos to make into Christmas cards, and preparing them to be sent or posted to my blog, etc. I prepared a “coupon” Christmas gift for Joanne. Slim pickings under our Mickey Mouse (literally) Christmas tree this year.
After supper we watched the lengthy season finale of Survivor, including “aftershow”.
HMPH ! Amazing Race is finished, Survivor is finished … what are we going to regularly watch on TV now ?
Saturday ; Sunny, hot, a bit humid.
Late this morning we walked all the way to Mercado Nuevo to stock up on vegetables required for the next few days’ special meals. The market was extremely crowded / busy today. Following is my conversation with the middle aged man running the vegetable stand where we bought most of our required vegetables, after he weighed and priced our selections ;
JEFE ; Seisente (60) pesos, por favor
ME ; (paying)
JEFE ; Americanos ?
ME ; No … somos Canadienses
JEFE (in perfect English) ; OH … God bless you !
HA HA HA !
Buying meats for Christmas dinner here is VERY different than back home in Canada. Here women shoppers are wandering around the market carrying their Christmas dinner turkeys. All are freshly slaughtered … the turkeys, not the women … hanging down below the women’s hands, most of the turkeys plucked, but not all of them, some still with feathers, women carrying the turkeys by the necks as if they themselves wrung the turkeys’ necks moments before ! The turkeys still have their legs and feet attached. No styrofoam trays, plastic cling wrap, or vacuum shrink wrapping here ! BTW … turkeys here are scrawny ! No growth hormones or “Butterballing” I guess.
Parked at the market are pickup trucks with one or two dead pigs in the bed of the truck.
YO … Feliz Navidad ! HA HA HA !
At 6 PM we set off for another evening at Villa Navideña at Chetumal Malecon. We walked a couple of blocks to the nearest busy street and hailed a taxi. As expected, the fare was trente pesos. The taxi dropped us off as near to the Christmas Village as practical, and as we walked the last few hundred feet … uh-oh … muchos emergency vehicle lights. HA HA HA … perfect timing. We were approaching the start of the Santa Claus parade. We stood on the median of the street and watched children freaking out over the appearance of Santa Claus, and a variety of law enforcement types throwing candies out their cruiser (and fire truck and ambulance) windows. HA HA HA … sort of Santa Claus meets Mardi Gras !
Standing in front of us on the landscaped median was a mother with two young children, a boy and a girl. They were scrambling around in the grass collecting candies thrown by Santa when the little girl looked up in amazement and shouted … as another float with another Santa approached … MIRAR ! UNO OTRO SANTA ! ! ! (LOOK ! ANOTHER SANTA ! ! !) HA HA HA HA HA … she was overdosing on adrenaline !
We wandered around for a couple of hours, grazing on street food, including a very nice slice of tres leches cake decorated with Christmas icing on top. The Christmas Village was not as busy as two weeks ago. I guess what we saw at the mercado earlier today was an indication that tonight many families would be at home starting their Christmas dinner preparations.
After a couple of hours we wandered away from Christmas Village and a few blocks later hailed a taxi to take us home.
DSK
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