Sunday ; Sunny and hot, 90° F / 32° C at 5 PM.
I have been sick for six weeks ! However … after five days of daily double dosages of Ciprofloxacin … the end seems near ! It better be ! I’m almost out of Cipro. Again !
Note to self … and readers of blog ; bring plenty of Cipro when visiting Mexico !
This morning we went for a longer than usual walk around the neighbourhood. Because … we were enjoying the lovely weather, and … <whispering> … we sort of got a bit lost. HA HA HA !
Monday ; Sunny and very warm, 88° F / 31° C at 5 PM.
Today was a good news / bad news day.
Good news ; I am finally feeling healthier !
Bad news ; Joanne most certainly is not ! ! ! She has a severe gastro-intestinal ailment of some sort … again ! Deja vu ! ! ! “Stomach flu / food poisoning / Montezuma’s Revenge” ! ! ! Whatever you want to call it … a bacterial infection of the stomach and intestines. Good thing I haven’t yet consumed the last few remaining Ciprofloxacin tablets. We threw everything we could at this problem today ; Cipro, Imodium, Pepto-Bismal, Dicetel !
We drink aqua purificado. We disinfect all fruits and vegetables before consumption. After washing dishes we soak them in a disinfectant solution. We don’t purchase products from market vendors with questionable sanitary / hygiene conditions. By Canadian standards … that’s most of them ! But obviously, occasionally something slips through that our Canadian immune systems have not been exposed to for our entire lives, as is the case with locals, and … BOOM !
<sigh> This time, we think it was a bakery item purchased a few days ago. A stuffed puff pastry filled with a mixture of some kind of ground ham, cheese, and jalapeños. She had it for lunch yesterday. I can’t digest pork so I didn’t have one.
This morning I took our bag of dirty laundry to Lavanderia Cancer, then walked over to Juquilita Chocolate y Mole to pick up our two small bags of custom blended mole powders. The female half of the ownership told me a rapid fire Spanish tale of woe with a dismayed look on her face. I didn’t understand a word of it. But … it was obvious that our “custom blended” moles were not … and would not any time soon … be ready !
HA HA HA ! Another regular occurrence in Mexico. In Mom & Pop operations, it’s not uncommon for Pop to promise something that Mom … or anyone else … simply can’t deliver !
At 6 PM when the Panaderia Integral panadero delivery truck came by I ran out and bought a bunch of their products. Maybe chocolate muffins, honey buns, and carrot buns can sustain Joanne for a day or two. And at the very least, I can sustain myself with sugar cookies ! HA HA HA !
She fell asleep at 5:30 PM. I woke her at 8:30 when I had supper ready.
Tuesday ; Sunny and hot.
Joanne is still sick, but improving. Headed in the right direction, at least.
So … we had another lazy day while she recuperates. A short walk before lunch. A walk to the lavanderia to pick up our laundry just before dusk.
Maybe we’ll both be healthy enough tomorrow to go to Mercado Merced.
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot, 91° F / 33° C at 4 PM.
Well … we weren’t ! Both healthy enough to go to Mercado Merced. I was, Joanne was not. Maybe tomorrow.
Late this morning we walked the short distance to Mercado de La Noria, about three blocks away. We replenished milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. I visited with mi amigo perro Lucho. When we returned home Joanne was “out of steam”. Good decision not to go to Mercado Merced, more than two km. away.
As we were walking to the mercado we came across something quite unusual. Halfway between our apartment and the mercado there was a car parked on the street … with Ontario license plates. First Canadian license plates we’ve seen in our four months in three cities in Mexico.
Another “good news / bad news” day !
Good news ; after 46 days of cold / flu / covid (?) / respiratory viral infection / respiratory bacterial infection / bronchitis / pneumonia … I declare myself … <spreading arms wide> … (almost) HEALTHY !
<whispering> Maybe. Probably. I hope.
Bad news ; After one week, my replacement water flosser has died ! The first one lasted about six weeks ! What a worthless piece of made in China junk ! ! ! And it’s not worth spending another two hours on the phone with Amazon’s customer service agents in India because the best I could hope for would be a refund in the form of a credit on Amazon.com which is worthless to me. I already know from the last encounter that they can’t / won’t place the refund into my Amazon.ca account.
I have an idea ! Stay tuned ! I’ll post about it in about two months.
Thursday ; Sunny and very warm, 84° F / 29° C at 3:30 PM.
This morning we both felt very close to “normal healthy”, so … off to Mercado Merced we went. As we left our apartment we met new neighbours that moved into the suite above us a couple of weeks ago. They are an elderly couple from Chicago, she’s originally from Britain, they’re in their mid-80’s. They spend a couple of months in Oaxaca each winter. We chatted with them as we all walked in the same direction for a few blocks.
At Mercado Merced we bought the last two moles in powder form that we were looking for. We bought some meats. We bought a lot of fruits and vegetables. Joanne bought a lovely blouse. And some pecan / walnut brittle that she likes. <shrug> We had lunch at a really small restaurant near the mercado that she had researched online. While having lunch we chatted with the only other patron in this five table / ten chair restaurant, a young gringa from Germany. She had just arrived in Oaxaca and was having a leisurely lunch while she waited for her hotel room across the street to be ready for her.
We arrived back home about 3 PM, hot, tired, thirsty. At 4 PM I had a one hour ZOOM interview with a PhD student at Ottawa’s Carleton University who is doing research on remote healthcare technology development, particularly as it applies to seniors. It was an interesting interview. That opportunity came my way because I am a volunteer with the National Research Council of Canada’s Ageing In Place / Experts By Experience program.
Joanne prepared an exquisite dinner of chicken leg quarters with fresh raisins and fresh papaya in mole coloradito served over rice. The addition of the fruits to the mole coloradito actually makes it become mole manchamantales. It’s complicated!
Friday ; Sunny and very warm, 88° F / 31° C at 4:45 PM when we returned from shopping at Chedraui.
After an early lunch we walked to Chedraui for our weekly grocery shopping. While Joanne went into the supermarket to start shopping I walked around the outside mall surrounding the Chedraui store to the papeleria (stationery store) to buy a pack of pencil leads, then I went inside the Chedraui store and withdrew cash from one of the many ATM’s at the front of the store. There are half a dozen or more banks’ ATM’s inside the front entrance of the grocery store.
After we finished our grocery shopping we walked home in the blazing sun and heat. Joanne wanted to take a taxi home. I didn’t. We haven’t been outside as much as I would like due to illness. I’m sun deprived. And … spring has arrived here. But … she may have been right. Walking home with four shopping bags full of groceries was tiring and dehydrating.
Saturday ; Sunny and very warm, 82° F / 28° C when we returned home at 5:40 PM.
It was a lovely day and we enjoyed the warmth and sunshine on our late morning walk. At 5 PM we went out for our late afternoon walk and an ice cream treat. There is an ice cream shop near our apartment and Joanne has been wanting to stop there for a treat for quite awhile. I haven’t been feeling well enough to want an ice cream treat recently, but today was the day.
It’s a home based Mom & Pop business open only sporadically. Their prices are a bit on the high side, but … we appreciate how much effort and expense must go into a home based business selling a home made product. Yes, yes … they sell home made ice creams. Joanne had a large glass bowl of leche quemada / “burnt milk” flavour ice cream. I had a large bowl of half leche quemada and half limon / lime. Exquisite !
Their business occupies the living room of their house, with a take out counter and two tables seating a total of six. I have always been very impressed with the Mexican culture propensity to create one’s own paycheque, a trait that I believe is sorely lacking in Canadian culture.
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment