January 21 to 27, 2024 ; Oaxaca, Mexico

 Sunday ; Cloudy and mild. A comfortable day for a lot of walking.

This morning we set off a bit before 11 AM heading for Oaxaca’s main “town square”, known in most cities as “Centro” (also the word for “downtown”), known here as “Zócolo”, although it’s “official” name is Plaza de la Constitución”. It’s about 1.5 mi. / 2.5 km. from our apartment. I was a bit concerned about whether I would have the necessary stamina for the amount of walking we would be doing today.

As we expected, since Sundays are “family day” in Mexico, the Zócolo was quite busy and crowded with locals and tourists. At one point when we sat on a bench to rest, the elderly couple (from France) sitting beside us asked in fractured Spanish where we were from. When I answered in Spanish “we are Canadian” he smiled and switched to speaking French, easier for both them and us.

We wandered around and through the large square/park that occupies one square city block, and then some, since it includes a large cathedral adjacent, and the governor’s palace across the street, and is surrounded by pedestrian walkways/shopping areas all around the perimeter. There was a school band performing in the park this afternoon, and a stage being set up for some other music performance to take place later.

The church, built in 1535 ...<blink blink>... was “Catedral Metropolitana de Oaxaca Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”. Quite a mouthful ! We walked around it, and quietly through it, as a Sunday mass service was taking place. The architectural imagination of these centuries old churches ... all over the world ... astound me ! And ... <whispering> ... where did the money come from to build these kinds of churches ? ! ?

Joanne wanted to check out two local restaurants she was interested in, and choose one for lunch. We walked a couple of blocks west to check out the first one, then returned to the Zócolo and a couple of blocks east to the second one. <sigh> The second one no longer exists ! We trudged back to the first one. By then my stamina was wearing down. I was ready for a lunch break.

We had lunch at Restaurante Del Chef, a buffet style restaurant with a pretty courtyard. Nice ambience, reasonable price, mediocre food, terrible service. You wouldn’t think service matters much at a buffet restaurant, but ... it does when servers are responsible for bringing and refilling beverages. We watched an adjacent table where the diner arrived, ate his entire meal, and left without being served a beverage. Near the end of the meal, when I was getting pissed off at not having my small glass of lemonade refilled (so that I could take my very necessary after meal colitis medication), I stood up, walked into the kitchen, picked up a pitcher of lemonade, filled my glass, and walked out of the kitchen. Ironically, almost immediately afterwards, our server came by our table to place a small tray labelled “gracias por su propina” (thanks for your tip) on our table. HA HA HA HA HA ... yeah, I don’t think so, sweetheart !

After lunch we meandered around shopping areas heading in the general direction of Mercado Benito Juarez and Mercado 20 de Noviembre. Joanne wanted to return to Mercado 20 de Noviembre to buy herself a birthday gift. She knew exactly what she wanted, and where it was. And she bought it. AND ... I was unsuccessful in “negotiating” a lower price with the vendor. I suppose she knows when she needs to engage in some pricing “give and take” ... and when she doesn’t ! HA HA HA !

We walked slowly back to our apartment, arriving home shortly after 3 PM. We had walked over 3.6 mi. / 6 km. WHEW ! I napped for almost 2 hours !

After a buffet lunch we wanted a lighter supper than usual. We decided to have Joanne’s freshly made guacamole with my freshly made totopos (tortilla chips) made with tortilla harina integral / whole wheat tortillas.

Monday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we headed out to nearby Mercado La Noria to replenish milk, fruits, vegetables, buns, and … Queso Oaxaqueña, the sweet and salty string cheese Oaxaca is famous for. And we buy it from a family operated small cremeria (creamery) at the mercado. The panaderia was sold out of telera and bolillo buns. The little aborrote where we sometimes buy milk was closed today, so … we thought we would have to be without milk until tomorrow when we go to Chedraui, the large supermarket. But … while I was waiting for our very fresh Queso Oaxaqueña to be “unravelled” from a large ball, and rewound into a small 400 gram ball for us, another customer walked up and ordered two litres of milk. An employee handed her … a large “baggie” of milk. Wait … what ? You sell fresh milk ? In a tied baggie ? OK … I’ll take a litre. When we got home I untied the loop tied on the top of the baggie, and (sloppily) emptied the milk into a one litre measuring cup in our cupboard. The jug was full and … there was still quite a bit of milk in the baggie. I took a half litre measuring cup and poured the rest of the milk in the baggie into the smaller measuring cup. The “one litre” baggie of milk, sold cheaper than a one litre carton of milk in the aborrotes (convenience stores) or supermarket, was actually … <blink blink> … 1.4 litres of milk. And that wasn’t counting the milk I spilled on the counter top and into the cutlery drawer. HA HA HA !

This fresh milk tastes better then the UHT (ultra high heat treated … how milk is sold in Mexico … no need to refrigerate until opened) milk in cartons. Guess I know where we’ll be buying our milk from now on !

When we went for our evening walk at 6 PM, the panadero truck from the panaderia integral / whole wheat bakery was on our street. I bought two cream filled pastries and a baguette.

This afternoon I continued puttering with income tax returns. In the evening we continued watching My French Film Festival offerings. While having dinner we watched about half a dozen “short” films.

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot. Just the way I like it ! 82°F / 28°C when we went out to Chedraui this afternoon.

We had an early lunch then walked to Chedraui to do our weekly grocery shopping. After grocery shopping we stopped at Chocolate Mayordomo in the Chedraui mall and bought a big tin of their chocolate milk drink powder. SOMEONE is now a happy girl ! HA HA HA !

SHEESH ! Three large, heavy bags of groceries to walk home with !

During and following supper we watched a feature length film from My French Film Festival entitled The Green Perfume. Weird but good !

Wednesday ; Sunny and hot, 84°F / 29°C when we arrived back home about 4:30 PM.

We headed out at 11:30 AM this morning for an afternoon of exploring, which of course includes eating and shopping. Joanne had selected two opticians that she thought I should visit to see if tri-focals were available, and had loaded their locations onto our i-Phone’s GPS map. We meandered toward the two opticians, stopping in farmacias and health food stores on the way, looking for probiotics for me. I’m almost out of the probiotics I brought from Canada. I collected information on the products and prices, and will analyze and make a decision later. And both opticians confirmed what I had already been told by other opticians was the case ; tri-focal lenses are not available here in Oaxaca.

Eventually we made it to our primary destination, the Mercado Viente de Noviembre. Today was the day we were going to have lunch on “Meat Row”. WOO-HOO ! It was quite the experience ! Pick a meat vendor to supply and cook your meat, choose your meat. The vendor finds you a place to sit at the many picnic tables, then returns to their stall and cooks your meat and brings it to you, then you pay. In the meantime, go to the “condiments” vendors, select a vendor, select your condiments (guacomole, pico de gallo, salad, etc.) and bebidas (drinks), they will bring it to your table, then you pay. Since there were only maiz (corn) tortillas available, we chose not to have tortillas accompany our meal. Might have been a bit of a mistake. The condiments vendor supplied plastic forks, but knives were not available. We ate large slices of barbecued thin beef, and barbecued beef chorizo sausages, along with our chosen condiments, mostly with our fingers. It was messy ! But very tasty !

We browsed and wandered though Mercado 20 de Noviembre, then crossed the street to Mercado Benito Juarez where Joanne wanted to buy some specialty beef sausages at one of the butcher shops. We bought two types of beef sausages ; Salchichas (salCHEEchaz) Ejutla (ayHOOTla) and Salchichas Oaxaqueña (whahaKAYNya). We had the former a couple of weeks ago, the latter is new to us.

Before leaving the two mercados Joanne browsed the chocolate and mole vendors. I discouraged her from buying anything from the higher priced mercado vendors when we have a small “Mom & Pop” chocolate and mole manufacturing/processing business near our apartment with great selection and prices. Plus, I think we should wait until after our siete (7) moles tasting dinner on her birthday in a few days before buying any more moles, to know which moles we like best. On the way home from the mercados we stopped at Panaderia Integral (Whole Wheat Bakery) and bought a loaf of bread and two carrot buns for tonight’s soup supper.

We arrived back home at 4:30 PM, very tired. More than three miles / five kilometres of walking ! We napped ! During and following supper we watched another feature length My French Film Festival film, this one entitled Spare Keys. The story line wandered around, we weren’t sure where it was going, until it all came together in an excellent ending.

Thursday ; Sunny and hot, 84° F / 29° C at 3 PM when I returned from getting a haircut.

This morning we walked to Mercado La Noria to buy milk and eggs. Joanne was going to go into the market while I went across the street to get a haircut. The esthetician was closed, despite signage indicating otherwise. We returned home with our milk and eggs, then I left again with our bag of dirty laundry and empty water jug. I dropped off the empty water jug at the aqua purificado shop, then continued on to the lavanderia and dropped off the dirty laundry.

I returned home, then walked again to the esthetician’s to get my haircut. Still closed ! <fume> I walked home … again … and phoned the esthetician’s number. It was a very difficult conversation between someone who speaks NO English, and me who speaks Spanish poorly, BUT … we managed to agree on a 2:30 PM appointment for a haircut and beard trim.

As I arrived at the esthetician’s at 2:30, for the third time today, she was wrestling her elderly wheelchair bound mother into the shop. She is her invalid mother’s caregiver, and must bring her mother with her to work to provide care for her. It appeared to me to be considerably more difficult than having to care for a baby. I surmised that is the reason for the sporadic opening hours.

The esthetician Conchita gave me an excellent haircut and beard trim. In twenty minutes ! For MXN$100 / CA$8.10 for the haircut and MXN$50 / CA$4.05 for the beard trim. And I have never had a beard trim like that ! After trimming my beard with clippers, she lathered my cheeks and neckline, then unwrapped a fresh razor blade, and holding it squeezed between her thumb and forefinger, razor shaved my cheeks, above my moustache, under my chin along my neckline, and along the back of my neck. <blink blink> WOW ! That was different !

By the time I returned home at 3 PM our disinfected and refilled five gallon water jug had been delivered. And carried into our apartment. And installed in the tilting water jug cradle underneath the kitchen counter. As it always is. For 22 pesos / a dollar seventy-eight ! For water and delivery ! SHEESH !

Well ! Guess what I have just noticed, as I prepare for bed ? I have a sort of perverted “farmer’s tan” under my chin and top of my neck, where the razor shaved beard trim has left a patch of untanned skin that appears to have been bleached white, while the rest of my neck is deeply tanned. HMPH !

Tonight’s My French Film Festival movie watched was Stampede, a Canadian production about a Quebecois loser trucker who “kidnaps” his eleven year old daughter and takes her on a road trip from Quebec to Alberta.

Friday ; Sunny and hot.

Joanne was ill today. That shaped our day. She slept for much of the day. I was caregiver for much of the day. She began to feel better late in the afternoon.

At 6 PM we went for a walk, to get some fresh air and sunshine and exercise and pick up our laundry. And as we were leaving our apartment, the Pan Integral bakery van had just arrived on our street. We really like this whole wheat bakery’s products. We bought a small loaf of bread, two carrot buns, a cinnamon bun for breakfast, and a nougat and blackberry jam stuffed pastry for bedtime.

I made an egg drop soup concoction/creation for supper. Tonight’s My French Film Festival movie watched was Super Drunk, a touching tale of two 17 year olds, a boy and a girl, who are best friends, and have been since they were young children. He’s going away to college in Paris, she’s staying on the family prune farm, probably stuck there for life.

Saturday ; Sunny and hot, 86° F / 30° C when we returned home from Chedraui at 3:15 PM.

I needed more cough syrup and throat lozenges so we decided to walk to Chedraui after lunch to buy that and a few other items, including some sweat pants for me to wear as pyjamas. Oaxaca is chilly at night, and our apartment is a bit cool at night.

At 6 PM we walked over to Oscura Brebaje (Dark Brew), the local restaurant that has its own baker, where a week ago I had ordered a small birthday cake for Joanne’s 70^th birthday tomorrow. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

During and following dinner we watched a series of My French Film Festival short films. Most of them were crap !

DSK

January 14 to 20, 2024 ; Oaxaca, Mexico

 Sunday ; Day 1 of head cold

Sunny and very warm.

Our plans for today were to walk all the way to the Zocolo, the city’s Centro, or main square. But … I woke up with a head cold. I feel miserable, with a very sore throat, sore and weepy eyes, sore sinuses. Haven’t had a cold in at least four years ! It’s been coming on for the last two days, but I chalked it up to just allergies, like hay fever.

So … late in the morning we set off for a slow pace walk, in search of some cold symptom relief medication. Found some at the nearby OXXO. And … it works quite well. To give credit where it’s due … Mexico makes good drugs ! HA HA HA !

Joanne prepared soup for me for lunch. Thank you. I spent most of the afternoon napping. At 6 PM we went out again for another slow walk, not far. After supper, in the evening, we watched the Barbie movie.

Monday ; Day 2 of head cold

I woke about every two hours overnight, either due to full bladder … I drank a lot of tea yesterday … or nasal passages so clogged I couldn’t breathe. I’ve become a snot factory ! In the middle of the night, I woke up, body shivering, teeth chattering, freezing ! Which makes no sense, given the climate here. I’m hopeful that was the low point of this illness, and it will be uphill from there.

At noon we headed out for a light duty exercise walk, and to find throat lozenges for me. OXXO had none. Since I was feeling marginally better than yesterday I decided to trudge all the way to the farmacia inside the Chedraui supermarket. Once at Chedraui, while I searched for throat lozenges, Joanne went to get two litres of milk and a large Diet Coke (Coca-Cola Light, actually), to reduce the weight of groceries we would have to carry home on our next grocery shopping trip, likely tomorrow.

After finishing at Chedraui, Joanne suggested that since we were already there we should go to the Chocolate Mayordomo de Oaxaca store in the mall to get a couple of their wonderful chocolate milkshakes. Excellent idea, my dear. As we left with our two milkshakes I stopped in at the optical store and asked if they were able to source tri-focal lenses. As Carlos the other optician had said … no, they couldn’t. <shrug> Guess I won’t be getting a new pair of glasses in Mexico this year after all.

We began to slowly trudge back home when I realized … UH-OH ! I had overestimated my abilities today ! I was … “out of steam” ! The walk home was slow and … difficult.

Back at home I had a very light lunch of some leftover soup, then napped for the rest of the afternoon.

Tuesday ; Day 3 of head cold

Sunny, warm, perfect “June 18” type day, temperature 73° F / 23° C when we went out at noon today.

Yes, yes … my cold symptoms are slowly diminishing. Thank goodness. I have felt really miserable for the last few days.

At noon we walked over to the nearby Mercado La Noria to replenish fruits and vegetables. And Queso Oaxaqueño. And pan de yema buns. And … something new … candied dried fruit. WOW … <blink blink> … outstanding ! Papaya, kiwi, piña, mango, stuff I can’t even identify … !

Back at home we had lunch, then using ZOOM attended the Winnipeg Humane Society’s first staff, volunteer, and foster meeting of 2024. My first reaction after the meeting was over was … well, that was fine and dandy for staff, but not of much value to volunteers. I was wrong ! Joanne quickly pointed out to me that we were volunteers for about a dozen winter seasons at the Yuma Humane Society, and never received any information from the organization about anything ! As volunteers we were “in the dark” about everything, always. Excellent point, thank you my dear.

As the day worn on, my body wore out. We went for another walk to nowhere just before dark.

Wednesday ; Day 4 of cold

Sunny, very warm, temperature 79° F / 26° C when we went out at noon today.

My cold has evolved/migrated, from being a head cold to being a chest cold. I’m short of breath, and coughing now.

We left at noon heading for weekly grocery shopping at Chedraui, preceeded by lunch at one of the many food stands in the park beside Chedruai. Except … when we arrived at the park, there was only one food stand, not many. HMPH ! I guess the last time we were here it was a holiday, and there were many food stands and many people in the park. We walked to a nearby restaurant Joanne was interested in, and had an indoor, sit down lunch. We returned to Chedruai and spent a long time on our grocery shopping, mostly due to my slow motion / low gear sick person abilities today. We were back home about 4:30 PM. <sigh> I napped !

In the evening I puttered around with some 2023 income tax return preparatory work.

Thursday ; Day 5 of cold

Sunny and warm, 73° F / 23° C when we went out at noon. Being at an elevation above 5000 ft. ASL, Oaxaca’s winter nights are chilly, the evenings and early mornings are mild, but late mornings and afternoons are perfect weather.

My cold continues to slowly improve. Now more in chest than head. Mild coughing, mild shortness of breath, mild headache, runny nose, bit of fatigue, bit of foggy head, likely from too much drugs.

We headed out at noon toting our bag of dirty laundry and empty five gallon water jug. We dropped off the empty water jug at the aqua purificado place down the street. They returned it to us about 2:30 PM, disinfected and refilled. MXN$22 / CA$1.80 ! Darn good value ! We dropped off the bag of dirty laundry at Lavanderia Cancer. It will be ready for pickup at 6 PM mañana / tomorrow. <rolling my eyes> Right … good luck with that ! I’m assuming they meant 6 PM mañana Mexican time ! HA HA HA !

After lunch and a nap I worked on December bank statement reconciliations and getting our 2023 annual income tax “ducks lined up in a row”. At 6 PM we went for a slow walk around the neighbourhood. I’m searching for a local place to get a haircut in a week or so. Found one ! A few buildings over from the dentista I have chosen. Across the street from Mercado La Noria. Also found a lavanderia that’s closer to our apartment than the lavanderia we have been using.

Friday ; Day 6 of cold

Sunny and warm, 77° F / 25° C when we went out at noon. Cold symptoms continue to slowly diminish. BUT … my coughing last night at bedtime prevented both of us from falling asleep.

At noon we went to Mercado La Noria to replenish fruits and vegetables. Including candied dried fruits which Joanne really likes. A vendor today had fresh Oyster mushrooms. I bought some to use in tonight’s Linguine Carbonara recipe that I am making, and for use in risotto tomorrow.

After lunch I spent the afternoon intermittently napping, and drinking hot tea. I’m becoming tired of feeling sick. Again !

At 6 PM we went for a walk and retrieved our clean laundry from Lavanderia Cancer.

Saturday ; Day 7 of cold

Sunny and warm, 72° F / 22° C when we went out at noon. Cold symptoms improving. Maybe “evolving”, as well. Now have plugged, “gurgling” left ear.

After I made pancakes for breakfast we walked to the nearby OXXO late this morning to replenish throat lozenges, then crossed the large, busy street … four lanes in each direction, with a “median” in the middle … and went for a slow, long walk, exploring a neighbourhood new to us. WELL ! Once we were across the busy street we seemed to have stumbled into a neighbourhood that we surmise is “controlled” by a drug cartel. Hanging from the power lines were signs “warning” the local “delinquents” ;

“We catch … we lynch … we DON’T call the police !”

YIKES ! Mexican version of “neighbourhood watch” ? ! ?

AND … <cough cough> … let’s not forget the sign attached to the front door of a home ;

“This home is Catholic. We don’t accept Protestant propaganda …”

HMPH … tough neighbourhood ! ! ! Maybe we’ll just remain on our side of the tracks.

Before we went out for our early evening walk to nowhere Joanne made rice pudding using one of our “custom blend” chocolate “hockey pucks”.

The annual My French Film Festival started yesterday. Last night we watched a couple of short films. Tonight we watched a feature length film. All of the My French Film Festival offerings are available for streaming for free in Latin American countries. We first became aware of the existence of the annual My French Film Festival while attending the annual Palm Springs Film Festival a few years ago.

I baked a basa blanca fillet for supper. It wasn’t great ! But Joanne’s Oyster mushroom risotto certainly turned out well.

DSK

January 7 to 13, 2024 ; Oaxaca, Mexcio

 Sunday ; Sunny and warm, a very nice day.

We slept late this morning. Still “recuperating” from the ordeal of a day of travel, we think. Maybe a bit of “jet lag” thrown in.

After a late start to the day, and a late breakfast we walked a couple of blocks to Mercado La Noria, our nearby mercado / market, to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Well, that was the plan. I also bought some eggs, which can be bought here individually for three pesos / twenty-four cents each. And a small round of queso fresco. And this cheese was really fresco ! And still wrapped in its rind. Did not know that queso fresco has a rind. We’ve always seen it in its more “sanitized” looking version, with rind removed.

When I saw the queso fresco in the vendor’s glass display case, I asked “cuanto cuesta ?” / how much does it cost ? She replied viente-cinco (25) pesos / two dollars. SOLD ! She reached underneath her counter, took out a fresh round, still wrapped in rind, then sliced around the rind, removing the top half of the rind and leaving the round of cheese still sitting in the bottom half of the rind, as if it was in a bowl.

I “crumbled” some of it using the back of a spoon onto our home made tacos tonight. Crumbling it like that made it somewhat like feta, but much better tasting.

At home in the afternoon I paid the second half of our first month’s rent here, sending it via Western Union, as I did a couple of months ago with the deposit / first half of this month’s rent.

After a brief nap for me late in the afternoon we went out for a long walk to explore the neighbourhood. But first we went up four flights of stairs outside our apartment door to see the building’s rooftop patio. Nice, but … yeah ... our days of climbing four flights of stairs to see a nice view are … behind us. I doubt that we will be up there again. HA HA HA !

We wandered all around the neighbourhood for an hour and a half or so, finding restaurants, and lavanderias, and dentists, an interesting clothing store (with a lovely and sociable Siamese kitten), and churches, and … eventually getting lost. Good thing we had that i-Phone and its GPS map app !

Monday ; Sunny and warm, very nice weather here.

Our (Joanne’s) priority for today was to go to Mole Juquilita, the nearby chocolate and mole manufacturer to buy mole amarillo / yellow mole (molay) and freshly made chcocolate. Mole amarillo is one of the seven types of mole made in Oaxaca, and apparently the one most popular / best suited to be paired with chicken recipes. Moles are “cooking sauces” that are made with bitter chocolate as their foundation. Tastes a lot better than it sounds ! But we had no idea what form it is when bought from the artisanal manufacturer. Same with the (sweet) fresh chocolate Joanne wanted to buy / try.

We walked two blocks to Mole Juquilita. Neither the husband (back of shop, making the products) nor the wife (front of shop, selling the products) spoke English. Nevertheless we were able to understand both of them, who spoke Spanish slowly and simply to us. First we bought the mole amarillo. We were a bit surprised to find that it is sold “en polvo” / in powder form. The wife explained that it is be mixed with chicken broth, warm but not hot, or the powder will “harden”. The husband added that beef broth or pork broth is acceptable.

The chocolate, mixed in many variations / recipes, is sold in “rueda” (wheel) form, like hard “pucks”, picture attached below. The recipe / flavour we bought is chocolate a la canella y almendras / cinammon and almonds.

When we returned home I was eager to try the fresh chocolate, but … unsure how. So … I dropped a chocolate wheel / puck into the blender and … let ‘er rip ! OK … so now I had powdered chocolate with cinammon and almonds. OK … I added milk and … let ‘er rip ! WOW … great chocolate milk ! I wanted to try making that into a milkshake, but we didn’t have any ice cream. I added a few ice cubes to the blender and … let ‘er rip ! Well … not bad, but would be better with ice cream. We’ll buy some today when we return to Chedraui this afternoon for (mostly) non-food replenishment.

Our apartment building’s maintenance man came over this afternoon to resolve a number of minor maintenance items I had advised the landlord needed to be done. It seems to me that many of these AirBnB type rental apartments are habitually rented by three day to one week tenants who never advise the landlord of minor maintenance issues that should / need to be addressed.

While trying to retrieve a kitchen knife that Joanne had dropped behind the kitchen sink counter top … (don’t even ask … it’s Mexico !) … I banged my head into the cupboard above, splitting my scalp. OW !

After lunch and a brief nap for me we set off for Chedraui, the nearby large supermarket. We bought all the non-food items on our shopping list, and a few food items. HMPH … another large grocery store bill ! While at Chedraui I again withdrew a fairly large amount of cash from the Banamex ATM.

Joanne made pollo con mole amarillo sobre arroz / chicken with yellow mole sauce on rice, green beans on the side, for supper tonight. T’was a success ! Well done !

We have English language TV streaming services on the TV in our apartment. Joanne wanted to watch the final episode of THIS IS US while eating supper. We had not seen the final episode. Yesterday and Sunday we watched a few episodes of GRACE & FRANKIE, a series that she was introduced to by her sister a few years ago.

Tuesday ; Sunny and warm, another very nice day.

Ate a grasshopper today ! First time ! Probably the only time !

Staggered out of bed this morning at 7 AM, full bladder, headed to bathroom. YIKES … huge cockroach … STOMP ! HMPH … couldn’t get back to sleep after that !

We spent most of today exploring the two enormous mercados of Oaxaca ; Mercado 20 de Noviembre and across the street Mercado Benito Juarez. They are both about a mile from our apartment, so … walking distance. Mercado 20 de Noviembre is mostly food related ; bakeries, chocolate and mole vendors, butchers, fish mongers, and a lot of restaurants. Including what is known as Carnivore Row, a rather unique approach to selling meat based meals. Mercado Benito Juarez across the street is fruit and vegetable vendors, and lots of vendors selling lots of “stuff” ; exquisite Mexican embroidered clothing, bags, purse, belts, etc. and exquisite leather goods.

We bought some pan dulce (pastries), a couple of teleras (big sandwich buns), a round of fresh Queso Oaxaqueña (Oaxacan thick “string” cheese, slightly sweet, excellent !), a variety of fruits and vegetables. We had a tlayuda for lunch, deferring Carnivore Row until a future visit.

A tlayuda is sort of a Mexican version of a pizza, on a huge, round, corn tortilla, dark mole spread on (like tomato sauce on a pizza), covered with onions, tomato, lettuce, avocado, frijoles, etc. and … meat of your choice. We shared a tasajo (beef steak) tlayuda. It was interesting, not great. I ate a bit of the huge corn tortilla, then scraped the toppings off and ate them. I can’t process corn. While we ate lunch we chatted with a California woman sitting near us, while her Argentinian asshole husband rudely ignored us. I wonder if he’s an asshole because he’s from Argentina or because he’s now American ?

Carnivore Row aka Meat Row works like this ; there is a long aisle filled with meat vendors showcasing a variety of cuts of meats and sausages, beef, pork, and chicken. Each vendor has a wood fire barbecue grill. You select your meat choice and wait while they cook it for you, and serve it to you on a platter. Then you walk to the end of the long aisle where there are more vendors, these vendors selling “side dishes” and small bowls of “condiments” ; pico de gallo, roasted onions, a whole lot of different types of fire roasted peppers, shredded cabbage, shredded lettuce, arroz (seasoned rice) and so on. You buy side dishes and condiments, sit down at the long wooden picnic tables, and … chow down ! The whole area is smoky from meats being cooked on the wood fires, and fragrant with the smells of the cooking meat and everything else. YUMMY !

<whispering> Certainly beats the smells around the pescaderos (fish mongers) !

Beside the cheese vendor where I bought the Oaxacan string cheese was a vendor selling chapulines (chapooLEEnez) / seasoned, roasted or fried crickets and grasshoppers, a local culinary specialty. In many different sizes. They are eaten as a snack (like roasted peanuts ?), or added to other dishes, such as on a tlayuda, (or a pizza ?). OK … when in Rome … etc. I asked the vendor for a sample. I thought she would offer me a teensy little cricket, but NOOOOO ! She handed me a ginormous grasshopper ! YIKES ! I cringed, swallowed hard once, opened my mouth, threw it in, and … began chewing. HMPH ! Crunchy ! Salty ! UHHH … gracias, señora … I guess.

Throughout the day I was intermittently carrying on a WhatsApp texting conversation with a local dentista (female), starting and stumbling with the dentista, then via her English speaking assistant, trying to obtain information, “discussing” (negotiating) prices for examinations and cleanings, then making an appointment for dental cleanings for each of us in a couple of months.

I baked a fish fillet for supper tonight, a Tilapia fillet I bought yesterday at Chedraui. We watched another episode of Grace & Frankie while we ate supper.

Wednesday ; Sunny and warm, weather here seems close to perfect so far.

We slept very late again this morning. <shrug> Old people, lots of walking ! After a late breakfast we set off with our large bag of dirty laundry to the nearest lavanderia, 3 ½ blocks away. Each place we go to in Mexico, the lavanderias are further away from our apartments, and the prices are higher. Playa del Carmen was half a block, 13 pesos per kilogram of laundry. Price here is 22 pesos per kilogram.

I got a bit twisted around on our return trip home, and ended up at Mercado La Noria. Not where we were planning to go, but … since we were there Joanne went in to buy a leek she wanted for a recipe. I decided to check out the dentist outside the market. As I was looking at the signage on the building, the dentista arrived to open her office, her baby strapped to her chest, her older daughter (8 to 10 yrs. old ?) in her school uniform beside her. The dentista did not speak English, but she was welcoming and pleasant. Between my fractured Spanish, and her older daughter’s fractured (and reluctant) English, we got along famously. This Doctora was cheaper than yesterday’s dentista, and … I liked her attitude better. And her office is closer to our apartment. I made an appointment with her for mid-March for dental cleanings for both of us, then cancelled yesterday’s dentista’s appointments when we returned home.

At 6 PM we went out for another exercise walk, and to check out a local restaurant of interest. As soon as we stepped out of our apartment’s yard gate, a panaderia delivery truck turned the corner, stopped, and turned on his rooftop speaker pitching his bakery products. <me singing “el panadero con el pan” … Google it !) Well … shit … when opportunity knocks … HA HA HA ! I bought a cinammon bun (breakfast) and a pan dulce con crema limon / pastry filled with lemon crème (bedtime … with home made chocolate milkshake).

The restaurant was interesting. Even more interesting … their cake & pastry display case. I spoke fractured Spanish, Angeles (annHELas) the woman at the front counter spoke fractured English, I was able to determine that their baked goods are produced in house by their own baker. Their “to die for” chocolate cake on display was 75 pesos per slice, 700 pesos for the entire cake. The baker was gone home for the day, so she was not able to answer my question of … could he make a smaller version as a birthday cake for Joanne’s upcoming birthday. If yes, I will order it, if not, I will buy a couple of large slices on her birthday.

We continued to meander around the neighbourhood exploring areas we had not seen before. I stumbled across an optometrist / optician business, based in a home’s “front living room”, common for small, independent businesses in Mexico. I want an eye examination and new glasses before we return to Canada. The optometrist / optician was not home at that time, but his non-English speaking wife came out to serve me, then asked her teenage son and daughter, both of whom spoke fractured English, to assist. I gathered most of the information needed, costs of eye exam ($0 !), costs of new glasses including new frames, costs of new lenses using existing frames, etc. They will have their father contact me via WhatsApp … used by everybody / all businesses in Mexico, it seems ... with further information.

I expect / hope that this optometrist / optician’s service might be better and costs might be lower than the optician in the expensive mall surrounding the Chedraui supermarket, which is where I was planning to go for new glasses. Next time we go to Chedraui I will get information from that optician.

So … pan dulce, birthday cake possibility, eye exam and new glasses possibility … a productive evening walk.

EEEUUUWWW ! Joanne is preparing supper. She just unwrapped a skinless chicken breast purchased at Chedruai four days ago and put in the freezer at that time. It stinks ! ! ! Into the garbage (outside) it goes ! So … her chicken tagine mole recipe suddenly has become beef tagine mole. HA HA HA … hope that works !

<whispering> Yeah … it didn’t really work. Ya win some, ya lose some.

Thursday ; Sunny and warm.

We slept late again this morning. We’ve been tired lately ! Around noon we set off for a day of errands and a bit of adventure. We walked to the nearby aqua purificado business and dropped off an empty five gallon water jug. Our apartment came with a full five gallon water jug and we have now used it up. Upon return of the empty jug the business disinfects the jug, refills it with reverse osmosis purified water, then delivers the refilled jug to your home. Cost is 22 pesos, a bit less than two dollars. Well .. that certainly seems reasonable, doesn’t it ? ! ?

From the water purification shop we headed off for the Mercado Artesanias / Artisans Market, about a mile or so away. Just before we reached the mercado there was a Banco Azteca where I knew I could recarga (reload / top-up) my Movistar phone service which was due to expire today.

Mercado Artesanias was a bit smaller than Mercado 20 de Noviembre and Mercado Benito Juarez. It was mostly dedicated to clothing and other cloth goods such as tablecloths, with a few home décor shops tossed in, selling hand made decorated wall mirrors and such. I bought Joanne an article of clothing as a birthday gift. <sigh> We discovered after she tried it on at home, that a larger size might be a bit better choice, and we will likely return to the mercado tomorrow and attempt to exchange it for a larger size.

We finished browsing at the Mercado Artesanias around 2:30 PM, and were ready for a late lunch. On our way to and from the other mercados a few days ago we had seen a buffet restaurant that interested us. We headed there for lunch. Excellent choice ! It was an opportunity to try small servings of many of the restaurant’s two dozen buffet selections, a crash course in Mexican dining. At a very reasonable price, 80 pesos each, about $6.50 each.

From the restaurant we headed to the lavanderia to pick up our laundered clothing. On the way … WHOA … a panaderia ! Opportunity knocking again ! HA HA HA ! WOO-HOO … Mexican tri-colore (tree coLOray) cookies, a wonderful bedtime snack ! When we got to the lavanderia, our laundry wasn’t yet ready. I should have known. When she said yesterday that it would be ready at 4 PM today, I should have realized she meant MEXICAN time. HA HA HA HA HA ! We’ll pick it up mañana / tomorrow !

Shortly after arriving home our telephone rang. It was the water delivery fellow, standing outside our gate with our refilled water jug. Joanne went to the gate to let him in while I searched for payment. The smallest money I had was two MXN$20 peso bills. He couldn’t make change. He took 20 pesos, told me I will owe him another 2 pesos next time. OK … that was nice.

By the way … the price of Joanne’s birthday gift was 350 pesos. When I told the vendor it was for Joanne’s 70^th birthday the price changed to 320 pesos. I offered 300 pesos. SOLD ! Darn … my offer must have been too high ! HA HA HA !

OH … I must go ! I’m being summoned to make my contribution to dinner preparation. Supper is … HUH ? Soup and … milkshakes ? ! ? HA HA HA … whatever your corozon desires, mi amor !

After supper we completed the final few Winnipeg Humane Society new volunteer training videos. We’re now ready to attend next week’s WHS Volunteers’ Meeting via ZOOM.

Friday ; Sunny and hot, 91°F / 33° C when we went out around 11 AM.

This morning we headed out to Mercado de Artesanias to exchange Joanne’s birthday gift for a larger size. The vendor had the appropriate larger size, but not in the same colour. DARN ! Oh, well … this colour complements her beautiful hazel eyes. Since we had walked that far Joanne thought it made sense to keep going, and head over to Mercado 20 de Noviembre and Mercado Benito Juarez. She wanted to purchase a phone carry bag she found last time we were there, but I talked her out of buying it until we saw more of the markets’ vendors and offerings.

We walked over to Mercado 20 de Noviembre. HMPH ! The vendor with the phone bag was not open today. The “hit or miss” nature of Mexican vendors / businesses is a frustration to us. Despite the one item we went there for being unavailable today, we still managed to spend almost 500 pesos / 40 bucks in the two mercados, mostly on Oaxacan specialty food items. Chorizo de rez, salchichas ejutla (both of those are local specialty types of beef sausage), a couple of pan de yema (egg yolk bread/buns, another Oaxacan specialty), a round of Queso Oaxaqueño, a round of Queso Fresco, a large cinnamon bun filled with chocolate and raisins (an artisinal produced product from the nearby small village of Tlacolula), small potatoes, tomatoes, green beans … etc.

On the way back home we stopped at Lavanderia Cancer and picked up our bag of washed and folded laundry. By the time we arrived back home in mid-afternoon, after walking about 5 km./ 3 miles we were pretty tired.

We think we need a “day off” tomorrow.

We watched another episode of Only Murders In The Building while having supper, then I reconciled and paid credit card bills. I’m a bit annoyed at the monthly credit card bill for 61 cents which resulted from Good Sam Emergency Roadside Service “recurrent” charging me, then refunding the same amount a few days later after I cancelled, and the US$ to CA$ exchange rate had changed in the meantime. Those were the only two transactions on that credit card in the last billing period ! HMPH !

Saturday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we went for a walk (again !) to the local optometrist / optician business to get information. As can be expected, the optometrist / optician Carlos either never received my message left with his young brother and sister, or ignored the message. Or was planning to contact me at some later “mañana” Mexican time ! Today the business was open. We found out after being invited in by his mother, that Carlos did not live there, but she would phone him and he would arrive “soon”. <sigh> Okay !

Carlos arrived ten or fifteen minutes later. Nice fellow. Spoke no English. We both used our phone translator functions a lot. It didn’t take long for him to understand that I wanted tri-focal lenses. It didn’t take long for him to communicate to me that tri-focals were not available, only “progressive” lenses. And he thought that would be the case at all opticians in Oaxaca. None of the local optical labs dealt with tri-focals any longer, only “progressive” lenses. <sigh> Gracias … adios.

I will check the optician shop beside the Chedraui to verify if that is indeed the case.

From there we walked to Mercado La Noria to buy a litre of milk. We were surprised to find that this small neighbourhood mercado has less vendors operating on Saturday than on weekdays. While at the market I visited with a friendly, old Husky cross snoozing in an aisleway. I assume he belongs to one of the vendors. Poor guy, sweltering in his long, thick coat. Somebody needs to give the poor fellow a haircut !

This afternoon while I was running water in the outdoor “laundry tub” sink, in the courtyard outside our kitchen / rear door, to wash our filthy floor mop, an American Karen resident from upstairs who has taken it upon herself to be the Oaxacan Water Sheriff heard water running, and rushed downstairs to pound on our front door to ask if we were “aware of the water shortage problem in Oaxaca ?” Yes, Karen … I am … so … **** off, ***** ! ! ! The last part was thought, not spoken. Although … my tone of voice implied it !

We went out for our late afternoon walk at 6 PM. I stopped at Restaurante Oscuro Brebaje (Dark Brew Restaurant) because … <fume> … the hostess Angeles failed to follow through with her commitment made to me a few days ago to ask their baker if he could / would make a small birthday cake, then she was to phone me with the answer. Tonight’s front counter host knew the answer to that question. YES ! Wonderful ! I ordered and paid for a small chocolate cake for Joanne’s 70^th birthday in two weeks.

Joanne made cole slaw and I made a chorizo, leek, tomato and queso fresco baked omelette for supper tonight. It turned out very well !

DSK