Sunday ; Overcast, hot, humid.
This morning we went for our usual late morning exercise walk, exploring parts of the neighbourhood we haven’t been to before. We found a local “taco stand” advertising “todos Domingos, barbacoa rez” / every Sunday, beef barbacoa, a type of barbecued, shredded beef … cheek, I think. HMMM … interesting idea for Sunday dinner. “Barbacoa rez, todos Domingos” is common in Mexican “taco stand” type food businesses. Other days of the week the offerings are mostly chicken and pork. Sometimes lamb or goat. I like barbecued goat ! Our morning walk ended with an aqua purificado refill of our five litre water jug, a daily occurrence so far.
This afternoon Joanne played around on the i-Phone, researching interesting places to go, things to see and do … and eat ! Always a priority for us ! HA HA HA ! She has planned a ferry trip to the island of Cozumel. And a beach day nearby at Playa 88 or Playa Punta Esmeralda. And she found some very interesting restaurants, including a BBQ place nearby featuring barbacoa on Sundays, but closing on Sundays at 5 PM. She found this at 4:30 PM, so we decided to immediately leave for our afternoon walk, and buy some barbacoa for supper.
When we arrived there, they appeared from the front to be closed, but … there was a lot of noise coming from inside their courtyard. We peeked through the gate into their courtyard, and saw a huge party going on, like a wedding reception or something, including a band. We stepped into the courtyard, at which point a server saw us, and scurried into the restaurant, sending out a young man who spoke some English. Our gringo-ness is obvious ! HA HA HA !
They were closed this afternoon to cater a private reception. We will eagerly be back next Sunday !
After supper we watched last Wednesday’s episode of Amazing Race. On the i-Phone. On CTV. Easy to do when you’re in Toronto ! <wink>
We went to bed around 11:30 PM. I understand that Sundays are “family day” in Mexico, but … why are so many young children playing (and dogs barking) in the street at 11:30 PM on Sunday evening ? Don’t they have to go to school early tomorrow morning ?
Monday ; Mix of sun and clouds, hot, humid.
HMPH ! I think my cherished travel WaterPik died this morning. While using it, the motor suddenly slowed down significantly, and it began to smell like something was burning. DARN … I’ve had this thing for about fifteen years or more. Maybe, if I’m lucky, it will turn out to be just ANOTHER low voltage incident, pretty common here in Mexico. Along with the frequent (multiple times per day) that the water stops for five or ten minutes. REALLY inconvenient in the middle of a shower !
Our room was scheduled to be cleaned today at noon, so just before noon we left for a trip downtown. Priority task was weekly grocery shopping at Mega Soriana, but last night, doing online research, Joanne found an interesting “taco stand” near the Soriana. Our plan was to have lunch there.
We left our apartment at 11:45 AM, walked to Avenida Trente and caught a bus to downtown. $14 pesos / CA$1.12 for two bus fares. We got off the bus across the street from Mega Soriana. There was a small shopping mall between Mega Soriana and another supermarket, Super Aki (“aqui” being the Spanish word for “here”), with an HSBC bank in the mall. We walked into the bank and initiated a cash withdrawal transaction at an ATM to ascertain how much of a transaction fee there would be to withdraw funds using a Canadian bank card. $81 pesos / $6.48. Seemed a bit steep ! We cancelled the transaction, having learned what we needed to know.
There was also a large papelaria (stationery) store, like a Staples. I was able to find the 0.5 mm. mechanical pencil leads I needed.
We went into the Super Aki, vowing not to buy anything, just to look around before going to the Mega Soriana. Super Aki seemed to be somewhat of a bulk / “no frills” Costco style store, like Bodega Aurrera. Just as we were about to exit the store I saw an end cap display with a sale on fancy birthday candles. WOO-HOO … how fortuitous. The regular price of large, rainbow coloured birthday candle numbers was $15 pesos / $1.20, on sale for $5 pesos / 40 cents Canadian. I bought a “seven” and a “zero” for Joanne’s upcoming birthday.
Between the Super Aki and the Mega Soriana were about half a dozen “taco stands”. Joanne’s research indicated that we should try quesabirrias (kaysaBEEReeyaz) at Tacos de Birria El Compa. We found it. Ordered two quesabirrias, and a bottle of freshly squeezed jugo de naranja (hoogo day narANha) (orange juice), $28 pesos / $2.24 for each, for a total of $84 pesos / $6.72.
We had never had quesabirrias before. The vendor drenched small corn tortillas in an orange sauce (?) then added a scoop of some kind of soft cheese, and warmed them on his grill until the sauce soaked through the tortilla and the cheese was melted before heaping on a scoop of birria, a type of barbecued, shredded beef, akin to barbacoa. “On the side” was a small cup of what they called “consommé” for dipping. We would probably call it “au jus”. At the condiment table we added pickled red onions, pico de gallo, cilantro, and salsa verde (green), milder than the salsa roja (red).
WOW ! WOW !!! We ordered two more ! We ate lunch sitting on the high curb of the Mega Soriana parking lot. Wisely, Joanne had brought some paper towels in her purse. HA HA HA … eating quesabirrias is … messy, to say the least !
The quesabirrias were served on a plastic plate inside a grocery store produce bag. When finished eating, just carefully remove the plastic bag, turning it inside out while removing it off the plate, discard the messy plastic bag, and return the clean plastic plate to the vendor for re-use. Seemed rather “sustainable”.
We shopped at Mega Soriana, replenishing enough groceries to last another week or more. There were three items that we could not find at Mega Soriana. We checked out, using the self-checkout, bit of an ordeal when not understanding the screen’s instructions in Spanish, which seemed to be frequently “correcting” our “procedural errors”. Once outside the store, Joanne decided to return to Super Aki to look for those three items while I sat on the Mega Soriana parking lot curb with our two full grocery bags, in the blistering sun and heat <gasp>. With an armoured truck idling nearby choking me with diesel fumes !
When Joanne returned from Super Aki, having successfully found the last three items, we caught the bus right in front of the grocery store. WHEW … rush hour already ! Heavy traffic, crowded busses. We arrived back home at 4:30 PM.
AHHH … nicely cleaned apartment. You know … for a dump ! HA HA HA !
Today at Mega Soriana I bought a fillet of fresh mojarra (remember … “j” is pronounced like “h”), a local fish that we have had in Mexico before. I prepared it for supper, similar to how I prepare pickerel. It was pretty good !
YUP … little travel WaterPik is dead ! DARN !
Tuesday ; Sunny, very hot, humid.
As is often the case we used our morning exercise walk to run some errands. We took our bag of dirty laundry to the Cuban lady’s lavanderia a half block from our apartment. She weighed our bag, 5.2 kilos, at $15 pesos / $1.20 per kilo, so our bill was $78 pesos / $6.24, pay when we pick up our laundry, when it’s ready at 8 PM tonight. Certainly seemed more than reasonable.
We walked to Avenida Trente and went into the farmacia to inquire about a medication I want to buy. They didn’t have it. Joanne asked about a medication she wants. They didn’t have it. No matter, there’s a farmacia about every two blocks on Avenida Trente. We walked a couple of blocks to a panaderia (not our “regular” one which doesn’t open until suppertime) and bought a couple of bolillo buns for sandwiches for lunch. Well … since we were already there, I thought it wise to also buy some pan dulce. HA HA HA ! We walked to a produce store and bought some fresh vegetables needed for tonight’s supper. Finally, we walked to our local aqua purificado machine and refilled our five litre water jug.
In just over a week of this trip the switch on Joanne’s folding travel hair dryer has failed, the motor or circuit board in my travel WaterPik has burned out, and our soap holder box has cracked. This afternoon I repaired the soap holder box with duct tape, and disassembled the WaterPik using the tiny screwdriver and pliers on my “Swiss Army” pocket knife. Yes, yes, the tiny label was accurate. There were “no user serviceable parts inside”. The hair dryer switch has broken, stuck on the “high” setting. Joanne will have to turn it on and off by plugging it in and unplugging it from the wall outlet.
MMMMM … bought shortbread cookies with coloured sprinkles on top today at the panaderia. (he writes while eating one as an afternoon snack)
Around 5:30 PM, as the sun set and the air cooled, we went for an hour and a half meandering walk around the neighbourhood, half the time up and down the residential parts of the neighbourhood, half the time on the commercial strip of Avenida Trente, just exploring and people watching. We enjoy the immersive experience of “living” amongst the day to day existence of the regular people of the foreign nations we visit. We stopped in at a couple of farmacias but still did not find what we are looking for. We stopped at the lavanderia just before returning home, but our laundry was not ready yet (at 7 PM).
When we returned to our apartment building I coaxed the little calico cat that is the most outgoing of the half dozen or so cats that live here to come up the stairs to our third floor apartment, and we sat outside on our balcony giving her some attention and affection.
Trudging up and down these two flights of steep, winding concrete stairs (without lighting from second to third storey), is proving to be pretty hard on our old knees.
When we finished supper at 8:30 PM … garden salad, cheese stuffed chicken cutlets, fresh green beans, fried sweet potato slices … we don’t have a stove/oven, just a two burner gas hot plate … yes, yes, hooked up to a propane (maybe butane) tank beside our kitchen shelves … I walked over to the lavanderia to pick up our clean laundry while Joanne washed dishes. Our ropas (clothes) were still in the secadora (dryer). I’ll pick them up mañana (tomorrow).
Between our apartment and the lavanderia were a bunch of young girls playing soccer in the street. When a car approached, one of the girls hollered “MOTO” and they all moved to the curb. HA HA HA … just like playing street hockey on Enfield Crescent sixty years ago !
Wednesday ; Sunny and very hot.
WELL ! THAT was interesting ! ! !
Late this morning just as we were preparing to go out to buy a few items at Aborrote Willy’s and pick up our clean laundry at the lavanderia, Joanne was in the kitchen washing breakfast dishes, I was sitting at the kitchen counter / my computer desk when …
BANG
There was a loud “explosion” sound around the corner from the kitchen, near or in the bathroom. HUH ? Joanne asked “what was that ?”. It sounded like someone had dropped something heavy on the ceramic tile floor in the bathroom or near the bathroom entrance. I said to Joanne “well … go look.” She stepped to the corner of the kitchen and peeked around the fridge at the bathroom entrance when …
BANG
EEEEEK … Joanne screamed and jumped at the louder sound of the second explosion.
I blinked … WTF ?
Six ceramic tiles on the floor near the bathroom entrance exploded upwards, sending shards of broken ceramic flying high. Almost as high as Joanne jumped from the scare.
Six ceramic tiles had heaved upwards, as if they were suddenly too tight to fit into their allotted space. WTF ?
Joanne headed out the door saying “I’m going to get the landlady”. I sat there, unsure whether to wind my watch, take a shit, or steal third base.
The landlady was not home at that time, her young assistant was downstairs. Joanne approached the young assistant and said “grande problema en numero seis” (our apartment is #6).
J ; “grande problema en numero seis” (technically incorrect, since grande is masculine and problema is feminine)
young assistant ; “problema con aqua ?” (probably because the water goes off multiple times per day and residents complain ?)
J ; “NO … <points to floor, then raises her arms and hands upwards> … BANG !”
young assistant ; <looks puzzled, probably thinking “what is this vieja gringa trying to say ?”>
So … she follows Joanne back upstairs to our room, looks at the exploded floor, blinks, and says “OH !”
She says in Spanish as she hustles back down the stairs “I’ll call the landlady … we’ll probably have to move you to another room temporarily”.
A few minutes later we receive a text message (in Spanish) ; “landlady notified, will be here as soon as possible, hopefully with a repairman, no rooms available to move you”.
<shrug> We went to Willy’s, bought a few items, picked up our cleaned laundry, came home, and made lunch. We had been planning to go to the beach this afternoon because of the very nice weather, but … I was feeling slightly ill today so we decided to postpone until tomorrow. Corn is near the top of my list of inflammatory bowel disease / ulcerative colitis “do not eat” items. The two quesabirria tacos I had downtown two days ago were in corn tortillas. I always ask for wheat flour tortillas at restaurants, but this little taco stand only had corn tortillas. So … today I paid the price !
As we finished lunch, around 2 PM, the landlady showed up. With a repairman. She didn’t seem to find the “exploding floor tiles” unusual. She instructed him to fix them, as quickly and cheaply as possible. He said he would be finished in three or four hours.
We went to the beach !
On the way home from Playa Punta Esmeralda, leaving the beach around 5 PM, we stopped at Roco’s Cafeteria and each had a milkshake. Joanne had chocolate, of course. I had banana and … granola. Seemed like an odd but interesting combination for a milkshake. It was good ! When were finished our milkshakes we walked over to Panaderia Los Tres Reyes to replenish bolillos y pan dulces / buns and pastries, arriving back home at 5:45 PM to find the repairman just finishing up. “Listo, listo” (ready, ready) as he cleaned up (poorly) and left. HMPH ! Pretty poor workmanship, if you ask me. Which nobody did ! HA HA HA !
He replaced six tiles. I thought a minimum of eight needed to be replaced. Six had exploded upwards, and two adjacent tiles fractured along the edges. He used mortar to fill in the broken edges of the two fractured tiles, and squeezed the six tiles in so tightly (which was obviously the problem in the first place) that he cracked the final tile squeezing it in. And … did not replace it, just left a cracked “new” tile. <shrug>
I hope the six “new” tiles don’t explode before we leave here in a few weeks !
We spent the day downtown. We left home shortly before noon and were back home at 4:30 PM. We caught the bus on Avenida Trente and got off at the Wal-Mart downtown. We walked a few blocks east to Avenida Diez then turned south looking for the restaurant I wanted to go to for lunch.
Across the street from the restaurant was a farmacia. We went inside looking (again / still) for three medications ; one for me, two for Joanne. The friendly and efficient female pharmacist did not have what I was looking for, but had one of the medications Joanne wanted. Not quite as much quantity as Joanne wanted, but she could have it for us within a hour or two. Okay … we paid for it … YIKES … two hundred bucks Canadian … then went across the street to have lunch.
Mi Kfe Sabor Venezolano is a Venezuelan restaurant that I found online, with excellent reviews. It was a small restaurant, with one middle aged woman looking after the “front of house” and probably only her husband in the back in the kitchen. There was only one other customer when we came, a young Venezuelan man, he finished his meal and left shortly after our arrival. Joanne and I shared a variety of Venzuelan traditional dishes. They were excellent ! I had a Venezuelan alcohol free, caramel flavoured beer. It was odd !
After lunch we returned to the farmacia. The additional quantity of Joanne’s medication had not yet arrived. We walked down the pedestrian mall all the way to the bus depot to buy tickets to Chetumal on December 5. DONE ! From the bus depot we walked to the main downtown waterfront park, Parque de Fundadores, and the pier, where we obtained information on buying ferry tickets to the nearby island of Cozumel, a future outing while we are here in Playa del Carmen. Walking back across Parque de Fundadores, we saw … HOLY COW … Los Voladores de Papantla were preparing for a show.
We have seen Los Voladores de Papantla before, about fifteen years ago, at a Mayan ruins site on the northern tip of the Yucatan peninsula, on an RV trip we did around the entire coastline of mainland Mexico. They are a cultural Mayan ceremony performance group. It’s a bit difficult to describe their act.
A group of five men in Mayan ceremonial garb climb a thick metal pole that is about 50 feet high. Once on the platform at the top of the pole, they attach ropes to the pole and wind the ropes carefully around and around the top of the pole. Meanwhile, a couple of their colleagues at the bottom of the pole play Mayan music on a drum and a wind instrument. After a lengthy preparation, four of the men … <blink blink> … lean backward and fall off the pole, in unison, and slowly twirl around and around the pole, upside down, ropes attached to their ankles, twirling further and further from the pole the lower they get, and the more their rope unwraps from the pole, until they finally reach the ground. <insert applause here> The fifth man stays at the top of the pole and plays music “to the gods”.
(I hope) I took a video of this today. If I captured it correctly, I will attach the video at the end of today’s journal entry in my next blog posting.
We watched this event in the shade of a palm tree, along with a gringo and three gringas, two adult women and a girl. Talking to them later we discovered that they were from Nanaimo, British Columbia. They wondered why we would move from the Okanagan to Manitoba. <sigh> We’re SO tired of that question ! But I digress ! A few moments before the Voladores began their upside down spin around the pole, down to the ground, the gringo got impatient and began to leave, summoning the women and girl to “let’s go” ! I spoke up and said … “OH … you don’t want to leave NOW ! Just wait another minute. You will NOT regret it !” Yes, yes, I was right ! They did NOT ! HA HA HA !
After the astounding performance we found our way to a nearby restaurant that we wanted to check out. It seemed to be ideally located to take our Dugald Estates neighbours Linda and Jim to lunch if they visit us in a couple of weeks while they are vacationing at Puerto Morelos between here and Cancun. I offered to buy them lunch if they came for a visit. Yes, yes, the restaurant’s location is ideal, and it seems like a worthwhile place to have lunch.
After checking out the restaurant we wandered back to the farmacia to pick up Joanne’s medications. It was about this time that it became evident to me that Joanne was fading fast from the sun, heat and humidity. We picked up her medications at the farmacia, than began walking back towards the bus stop at Wal-Mart. By the time we arrived at Wal-Mart, Joanne’s stamina was depleted. We went into Wal-Mart and bought a bottle of mouthwash, and a cold bottle of water for Joanne. Her stamina in the heat has become … limited, to say the least.
While we waited a few minutes for a bus Joanne sipped on cold water. She was already feeling unwell. The bus ride home was hot and noisy. The walk from the bus stop back to our apartment kind of finished her off. Upon arrival at home she fell onto the bed and slept for an hour. While she napped I went out to refill our water jug at the aqua purificado machine.
Friday ; Mix of sun and clouds, very hot, very humid, as I type this at 3:45 PM, temperature 29 C / 84 F, “feels like 37 C / 99 F” per Weather Network.
Yesterday’s weather was similar, perhaps a bit hotter due to unrelenting sun. For not the first time in our less than two weeks here, Joanne has become overwhelmed physically due to heat and humidity. HMPH … just like my mother did when my parents visited us in Ottawa in the summer of 1990, their one and only trip to visit us when we lived there.
HMPH … we’re not “getting older” … we’re already there ! Our two trips to downtown here have each resulted in Joanne becoming so “heat exhausted” that she feels extreme lethargy in the evening following the outing, and for the entire next day.
Accordingly, we had a very lazy day indoors at home today. Joanne had a lengthy afternoon siesta today, as she has had more than a few times since we arrived. She rarely naps at home. I puttered around on my laptop. I downloaded a Playa Del Carmen taxi company’s smartphone app and used it to make a taxi reservation for our departure on the morning of December 5. Younger folks might scoff, but I’m proud of myself for being able to figure out some of this techno stuff. I downloaded and processed yesterday’s photos, including figuring out how to temporarily download onto my laptop a “demo” version of video editing software and using it to fix my botched video of Los Voladores de Papantla.
Our fridge here has a “semi-auto defrost” button inside. We had no idea what “semi-auto defrost” means, but … the little metal freezer compartment (with the plastic door that Joanne has already broken) at the top of the inside of the fridge is seriously in need of defrosting already. So … a couple hours ago, as we finished lunch … I pushed the semi-auto defrost button. <shrug> Wish me luck. Joanne was opposed, being of the opinion that pushing the button would result in the freezer’s contents becoming thawed.
So far, so good. The frost buildup in the freezer is slowly diminishing, water is dripping into a removable tray underneath the freezer compartment, and the freezer contents remain frozen … so far. Again … wish me luck !
At 6 PM as the sun set and the day began to cool (well … not much !) we walked over to the produce stores and the produce vendor stands in the park on Avenida 30 and replenished frutas y verduras.
HMPH ! As I’m typing this at 7:45 PM a rain squall has just started, with high wind and … horizontal rain ! Joanne is preparing supper. I’ve had to close our windows and door, turning our apartment into somewhat of a sauna. Hope this rain squall doesn’t last too long. They usually only last ten or fifteen minutes.
After buying produce and returning to our apartment I worked on some financial planning. WOO-HOO ! One of our significant investments has reached and surpassed my “sell high” target today. I have held this investment for quite a few years and it has performed admirably. Time to take profits and run ! This weekend I will instruct our BC Okanagan based investment advisor to sell on Monday, and reinvest the proceeds in a very good rate 5 year compounding interest rate GIC. The current GIC interest rates are very high, relatively speaking, and we have reached the point in our lives when I convert our “risky” investments to guaranteed return investments when the opportunities to do so present themselves. Well done, Daniel ! I also did some short term and long term RRIF withdrawal planning because … well … we can’t take it with us !
The freezer “semi-auto defrost” is completed. The freezer compartment is cleared of ice and frost. The frozen items in the freezer remained frozen. The ice cubes melted somewhat. Joanne wiped the remaining moisture out of the freezer compartment, I emptied the water in the catch tray underneath the freezer compartment. All is well ! I wonder if we should do this weekly ?
Joanne is cooking a beef stew for supper tonight. Some of the ingredients are vegetables that we have never eaten before. Like chayote (chiyotay).
After supper (HMPH … should have peeled the chayote !) we watched Wednesday’s episode of Survivor.
Saturday ; REMEMBRANCE DAY
LEST WE FORGET !
This morning at 11 AM we observed Remembrance Day on our balcony with a minute of silence to remember followed by a recitation of In Flanders Fields.
Overnight we had frequent, severe thunderstorms. Today was cloudy, very hot and extremely humid. I don’t mind that much but it renders Joanne somewhat dysfunctional.
At 3:15 AM loud thunder and bright lightning woke me up. With a severe earache ! Didn’t see that coming ! I was in so much discomfort I took a Naproxen then went back to sleep. Which then gave me heartburn !
After observing Remembrance Day we went out to Avenida 30 to buy Soldrin Otico antibiotic antibacterial anti-fungal anti-inflammatory analgesic ear drops at a farmacia. Not my first rodeo in Mexico ! HA HA HA ! The nearest farmacia had what I was looking for. $28 pesos / CA$2.24 for the generic version. On the way back home we refilled a water jug, then stopped in at Aborotte Willy’s to buy some jamón de pavo / turkey ham and queso rebanado / cheese slices for lunch.
An hour before the CFL West Final football game began we walked to Panaderia Los Tres Reyes to replenish buns and pastries, but … they were closed. We didn’t realize that they are closed on Saturdays. We continued to Avenida 30 again, this time to buy some tortillas harina (wheat flour tortillas). In Mexico just “tortillas” implies corn tortillas. I have difficulty processing / digesting corn and corn products, so … tortillas harina ! On the way back into our apartment building’s front gate we met and chatted with our new “next door neighbour”, another single woman from France.
While Joanne prepared supper I watched the game sitting on the bed with the laptop. The windows were open, our apartment door was open, the ceiling fan was turning. A paper towel on the counter blew upwards, sailed across the burner flame, and caught fire. YIKES ! I saw flame out of the corner of my eye, and heard Joanne shriek. I looked up just in time to see her grab the flaming paper towel and fling it into the sink ! WHEW … well done ! Close call !
Great game ! WOO-HOO ! ! ! The (Winnipeg Blue … for those who don’t know) Bombers are going to the Grey Cup next weekend !
DSK
