HAPPY NEW YEAR

December 24 to 30, 2023 ; Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Christmas Eve ; Sunny, very hot, very humid. As Christmas Eve should be ! HA HA HA !

Today I remember my father, who died on this date … a long time ago.

At noon we went out for our morning exercise walk to nowhere. It was less distance, and at a slower pace than usual due to the heat and humidity.

Joanne prepared her traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tourtière, but it required a lot of “adaptation”. It was wonderful, albeit a bit different than usual. Thank you, my dear.

Just before having dinner we had a Christmas family get together with Joanne’s family via Zoom. Thanks to her sister Lorraine for arranging that.

After dinner we watched a couple of animated children’s Christmas shows on CBC Gem. We ended our Christmas Eve by watching the CBC National news.

Christmas ; Feliz Navidad / Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel

Thin overcast, very hot, very humid.

The apartment’s resident manager / cleaning lady just showed up (at 1 PM) to clean our apartment. How unusual. We thought she would simply defer our bi-weekly cleaning until tomorrow. <shrug> We also thought it odd when the garbage truck came down our street mid-morning, picking up all the neighbourhood garbages. We also thought it somewhat odd … and annoying ... that they spilled more garbage onto the street … and left it there … than seemed to be going into the truck due to overfilled bags breaking as they shuttled them from the curb to the truck.

There are a few Mexican “cultural” concepts that have always been difficult for me to accept, enormous amounts of litter in the streets / along the curbs being right up at the top of the list. Until this morning I didn’t realize that the garbage pickup men contribute so much to that. Only in front of the residences with OCD abuelas are the streets, sidewalks, and curbs kept clean. YOU ROCK, GRAMMA !

Santa brought me a new travel size water flosser (WaterPik). WOO-HOO ! I tried it this afternoon. It was wonderful. My teeth and especially my gums have missed my WaterPik which died shortly after arriving in Mexico two months ago.

Santa brought Joanne a four month stay (December 1 to March 31) at Royal Scot Hotel & Suites in downtown Victoria, BC, Canada next winter. She is pleased ! We will drive there and have the use of our car all winter. WOO-HOO … road trip !

At 5 PM we went for an exercise walk, and to refill our water jug, expecting that the day would have cooled somewhat by then. It hadn’t ! I was waving and wishing “Feliz Navidad” to everyone we passed. I learned how “foreign” my Spanish sounds. The response every time to my cheerful “Feliz Navidad”, carefully enunciated, was something along the lines of … “Nuvdad”. No “Feliz”, just a mumbled, quick “Nuvdad”.

My contribution to Christmas Dinner was to make the mashed potatoes. Christmas Dinner (garden salad, roast chicken with dressing / stuffing, sauteed squash, mashed potatoes with crema and cilantro, raisin pie home made by Joanne with fresh plump raisins bought at the local mercado) was excellent, as always / as usual. Thank you, my dear.

After supper we watched the first two (of three) episodes of the CBC drama series “Blackberry”. I was just going to watch a few minutes of the first episode to see what it was about, but … now we’re hooked !

Boxing Day ; Sunny, very hot, very humid. Temperature when we went out at noon ; 84°F / 29°C / “feels like” 93°F / 34°C.

Yes, at noon we went out for an exercise walk and to take our dirty laundry to the lavanderia and refill our water jug. As we unlocked the gate to our apartment building upon our return I was mistaken for the landlord by a new guest checking in. Despite the fact that we were both speaking English, we both had difficulty understanding each other. He was an Asian from Belize, who spoke English with a heavy Asian accent. And he had difficulty understanding my Canadian accented English.

It always surprises me when English speakers have difficulty understanding my Canadian accented English. Every culture, every accent believes “I don’t have an accent … THEY have an accent”. HA HA HA ! The very first time I encountered English speakers who had difficulty understanding me was in … wait for it … Florida ! HA HA HA !

In the afternoon Joanne did online research of restaurants in Oaxaca. I did online research of dentists and optometrists in Oaxaca. At 6 PM we went for a walk to Panaderia Alicia to replenish sandwich buns and cookies. After supper of Christmas leftovers … tourtière, roast chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes, etc. … we watched the third and final episode of the CBC drama series Blackberry.

What a fascinating Canadian story of rags to riches to rags.

Wednesday ; Sunny, very hot, very humid.

Consequently, our morning walk was slow, and not far. We walked to OXXO and bought a package of tortillas harina so that I could make tortilla chips to accompany Joanne’s wonderful guacomole as tonight’s “amuse-bouche”. Our 6 PM walk was further, as the air cooled as soon as the sun had set. We walked in an area we had not explored before, and found a restaurant / barbecue take-out place that looked interesting. They had just closed at 6 PM. We will return tomorrow to check them out.

This morning I phoned Good Sam Emergency Roadside Service, (a US based service provider of emergency roadside assistance for RV’s) trying … and mostly succeeding … in stifling my anger at them. My three year term membership of RV emergency roadside assistance expires in a month. I have a note in my calendar, placed three years ago, to contact the Good Sam RV Club in two weeks from now to cancel before the expiry date to ensure that they don’t just automatically charge my credit card for renewal. I HATE that “must cancel or we will charge” bullshit ! Good Sam has been the only service provider that I (very reluctantly) agreed to do business with on those terms.

Well … <sputter> … a few days ago, fully a month before my membership term ends, the assholes billed my credit card. <taking a deep breath> I resolved that “problem” this morning. And did so politely and patiently, which is NOT my usual style ! ! ! Well … there was one tiny exception. The agent serving me wanted to know my reason for cancelling my membership. I DON’T NEED A REASON, ASSHOLE ! <taking another deep breath> I thought that, but didn’t say that. What I did say was … “that’s irrelevant to this process !”

I have a ZOOM meeting tomorrow with the volunteer co-ordinator at the Winnipeg Humane Society to discuss my recent application to be a volunteer with their organization, maybe in the shelter as a dog walker, maybe a short term foster care provider.

After supper we watched two episodes of a CBC “true crime” drama called Farm Crime. “Only In Canada, you say ?” HA HA HA ! (to my non-Canadian readers ; that’s a Canadian television commercial inside joke)

Thursday ; Sunny, very hot, very humid.

This morning our walk took us to Cabeza Negra (Black Head) barbecue restaurant where we checked out their offerings and made a decision about what we want to buy there for supper a day or two before we leave. As usual, Joanne has done an excellent job of managing our food / grocery supplies so that we should run out of food about two days before we depart. Easier said than done, believe me. But she has years of practice ; in the fall before we would leave Canada heading to Arizona, in the spring before we would leave Arizona heading back to Canada, etc.

Late this afternoon we had a ZOOM meeting / interview with the volunteer co-ordinator at the Winnipeg Humane Society. It went well, and we are looking forward to getting involved with short term foster care in our Dugald condo, and in-shelter volunteer work like dog walking / cat cuddling, etc., as we did for a dozen winters or so in Yuma, Arizona.

Our afternoon walk took us to OXXO to buy some milk and bread, to Panaderia Alicia to buy some bolillo buns, to the lavanderia to pick up our laundered clothes, and the aqua purificado machine to refill our water jug.

We are following with interest the current controversy back home in Manitoba revolving around the outgoing PC government’s attempted interference in the Sio Silica sand mining (in our neighbourhood !) “approvals” process in the days following their loss in the election on October 3 and the swearing in of the new NDP government fifteen days later.

Joanne concocted a wonderful dinner using ground beef, vegetable pasta, mixed vegetables, and … mole (molay), a Mexican cooking sauce with “roots” of chocolate. We named it … Mole Helper. HA HA HA ! By the way … Oaxaca, our next destination, is famous for its “seven moles”. Joanne’s birthday dinner will probably be a “degustación de siete moles” / seven moles tasting dinner.

After supper we watched the Winnipeg Humane Society’s 45 minute orientation video for new volunteers, followed by a quiz. Got 100 % on the quiz ! There are many training videos to be watched and quizzes to be completed for new volunteers. They seem very well organized.

Friday ; Overcast, mild, light drizzle … while we were walking to the mercado !

Yesterday I received a notification from Delta Airlines that our three flights home on April 3 were rescheduled. The result was a 23 ½ hour overnight layover in Mexico City. I was certain that only a computer algorithm would produce that terrible a schedule. I was right. This morning I contacted Delta through their website’s online chat function, and a live agent quickly rescheduled us much more efficiently. Thank you Delta agent Amber for your prompt and efficient assistance.

Late this morning we walked all the way to the Mercado Nueva … yes, yes, it began to drizzle moments after we left our apartment … to buy fruits and vegetables. Then to Expendio Fud (deli/meat market) for luncheon meat, and across the street to Carnicerias El Jarochita (another deli/meat market) for cheeses.

In the afternoon I completed another Winnipeg Humane Society training module for new volunteers. At 6:30 PM we went for another walk, a bit later than usual, dark already.

As you may have noticed, we have somewhat run out of tourist “things to do / sights to see” here in Chetumal. <shrug> Oh, well … we were looking for someplace to have a “quiet” Christmas and New Year’s.

So … after supper we completed two more Winnipeg Humane Society new volunteer training modules. So far … we are VERY impressed with the Winnipeg Humane Society.

Saturday ; Heavy rain overnight. Overcast and cool today. Downright cold by Mexico standards ; temperature mid-60’s °F / high teens °C.

We slept late, then had a lazy day, partially due to the “chilly” weather. In the afternoon I did a bit of year end accounting and investment analysis. Much more to do in the next few days. Late in the afternoon we went for a walk to replenish Diet Coke and milk at OXXO, buns and cookies at Panaderia Alicia, and to refill our water jug.

In the evening we completed two more Winnipeg Humane Society training modules for new volunteers.

DSK