Month: November 2014

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Sand – A Lament

I wrote this poem during the summer of 2002, while I was supervisor of boat rental operations for Gatineau Park. I spent an amazing summer on a lakefront beach, barefoot in the sand, getting fit hauling canoes and rescuing paddlers from the lake.

Sand
The curse of the winter lover
Sand everywhere
In your hair and in your crotch
Between your toes till it lays bare the skin
Sand
Dusty, gritty
Tired brown
For the same faceted crystals
Seek out a snowflake melted then refrozen
That snow that crunches beneath your snowshoes
Instead of those bits of rock
That grate beneath your desiccated feet.

While I am no longer a winter lover, now seeking out warmer climes, the bit about the feet holds! My feet are already rubbed raw from bad footwear, salt air, and sand. I’m making sure they’re just sore, not hurting, knowing that they will callus if I just endure this for a week or two, and that the pain will be worthwhile. 🙂

Tonight’s sunset on the beach, not retouched:

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The Chicken Lady!

I actually first heard about The Chicken Lady from my neighbours Charles and Caroline! Contessa and Croft confirmed that she exists. It was then up to me to find her.

I’m still behind on work, but needed a walk. Instead of going straight to the beach, I decided to go up my street and turn to emerge on the paved road right by the basketball court. I could then circle back around and come home by the beach. Well, I didn’t get that far. Soon as I reached the basketball court, I could smell chicken roasting!

So here’s the scoop on Isla’s chicken lady. She is set up on the paved street in a stand across from and right between the basketball court and the police station. She only sells chickens Saturdays and Sundays. BOO. I was hoping the days would be spaced out a bit more. Half a chicken is 50 pesos, a whole one is 100 pesos, not much better than I pay for a pre- roasted bird in Assiniboia, but still not expensive!

HOWEVER her birds are MUCH tastier and they are a full meal, coming with tomato rice (wonderful!), tortillas, and salsa. This is what 50 pesos (4.18CAD/3.69USD) gets you from Isla’s chicken lady:

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She had me confirm how much I wanted and that the quantity was worth 50 pesos. She then hacked my half of the bird into smaller pieces to see if they were cooked and put the pieces back on the grill since they weren’t.

I had time to watch the process since it took about 10 minutes for my half chicken to be deemed sufficiently cooked. She takes raw chickens (that looked perfectly fine with good colour) and soaks them in a brine, which gives them an amazing flavour throughout (not spicy, just a little salty and yummy). They then go on a HOT charcoal grill, eliminating most of the worries about her not washing her hands between touching raw and cooked chicken.

Once the chicken is cooked, she plates it with tongs and passes the plate to a non-chicken handling helper who adds a generous scoop of rice, several tortillas, and a bag of salsa (which I haven’t tried and am going to save for the bean burritos I’ll have tomorrow instead of tonight). The meal is then double bagged and passed to the customer who pays.

I came straight home with my treasure, or at least tried to, somehow making a wrong turn. I followed the sound of my neighbours’ dang roosters and eventually emerged near the RV park, about two Isla blocks from my place.

So my first Mexican street food!

And I must reiterate how yummy that dang chicken was. It was all I could do to only eat half while it was hot and put the rest in the fridge for later!

 

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A Temporary Work Station

After a day and a half of not being anywhere near halfway done a job that should have taken me a day at most, I finally conceded that I needed to get more serious about finding a temporary work station in my casita.

At first, I tried the kitchen table. It’s a round one with a pedestal base and legs that extend outward. There was no way to place my foot pedal that would allow me to sit naturally. I tried to sit with the table next to me, keyboard in my lap, feet extended. That was fine except for the crick in my neck from having to turn to see the screen!

The next setup was much better, but did not make me feel professional and therefore was not conducive to productivity. I dragged an end table into the living room from the second bedroom and set up my computer on it. I put the pedal inside the table so that it could be at a comfortable distance for my feet and sat on the couch. This was actually not horrible, but the computer screen was far away and the setup just felt messy and, again, unprofessional.

What I really needed was a set up like at the hotels I stayed at with a straight back chair and square table. And then I realised that I’d been staring out the door for more than a day at my square patio table!

I brought it in and tried to get it into the back bedroom, but the hallway was too narrow and the table legs did not come off. Dang. Next best place for it was under the window in the kitchen. I set up all my basics and success! I’ll be able to work here even though I would much prefer to be in the back room without all the distractions from the street.

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I’m glad I have all this sorted out. My best client is on holidays this month and even though I was told I’d have work, I haven’t heard from her yet and am therefore having to assume that I won’t get anything. So I’m going to let my lesser paying clients know that I can take absolutely as much as they have to give me.

So instead of six to eight hour days five to six days a week, I have to be ready to work twelve-plus hour days at least six days a week for the rest of November (provided clients have that much work for me…) to be on a good footing for December. Not a great position to be in in, especially in a foreign country, but I still think I’m better off here in that situation than I would be in an RV in SK since my expenses are now stabilized and I’ll have a pretty straightforward budget all winter, no worries about fluctuating electricity and propane costs.

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Water and Produce in Mexico, So Far

Well, I’ve been in Mexico just shy of a week now! It feels like so much longer!

Now that I’m settling into my home here and cooking for myself, I’ve had to decide about my stance on the water and produce here. Am I going to be super careful, avoid the tap water at all cost, soak produce in iodine, and peel and cook the heck out of everything, or am I going to relax a little?

First, I did a little research on the Mexican water system. As it turns out, water is purified at a treatment facility. Contamination occurs between the facility and the tap because of old pipes, leaks, and other issues. In some places, notably Mexico City, the officials swear that the tap water is as potable and drinkable as water found in the average Canadian or US tap and that there is no need for bottled water.

You know what? I have more reason to trust the water in Mexico than I do to trust the water that comes out of my tap at Haven! Even though I would never drink the tap water at Haven, brush my teeth with it, or wash fruits and veggies, I don’t think twice about rinsing out dishes with it, washing my hands and then touching food, and more. Why should it be any different here?

This morning, I rinsed my French press and coffee mug out with tap water and then made my coffee, same as I do at home. Let’s see if anything happens…

I’ve also been warned that produce is essentially a dirty bomb waiting to give me the runs and that I should peel all fruit and cook all vegetables.

So far, I’ve had no trouble with produce at any of the restaurants I’ve eaten at. I’m not convinced that I would want to eat lettuce from a taco stand if I ever get around to getting lunch from a taco stand (and if they even offer lettuce), but I’m in a gringo area and not worried about produce in restaurants. My tacos the other morning were buried under most of a head of iceberg lettuce and it was just so crisp and wonderful and fresh!

Between San Carlos and here at home on Isla, I’ve had three bananas, two apples (rinsed in bottled water only WITH SKIN ON), one clementine, one tomato (cooked), and half an onion (peeled and cooked) and so far I’ve been fine.

Without getting into any details, I don’t have the best digestion to start with, so it would take something really significant for me to know for sure that there’s something in the water and food here that’s making me ill.

So far, everything is normal for me and I really hope that dang veggie truck makes its way here eventually! Dale has been practicing ‘casa blanca en Cholita a la izquierda’, so I’m hoping it’s just a matter of time! 🙂

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A Stable(ish) Internet Connection!

All that troubleshooting at Haven has apparently turned me into an expert at getting a decent cell phone signal, even if it takes a lot of trial and effort. Let’s see if this post jinxes me! If not, I think I’ve got it!

I am SO GLAD I brought my booster with me!

Without going on the roof or to a high point, this is the best location I've found for the antenna, LOL! You can see how the cable is sneaking into the house.

Without going on the roof or to a high point, this is the best location I’ve found for the antenna, LOL! You can see how the cable is sneaking into the house.

The cable then goes to the equipment located on the entertainment system.

The cable then goes to the equipment located on the entertainment system.

The iPhone is right next to the amplifier. This is the bit I was missing. I was keeping the phone by the computer.

The iPhone is right next to the amplifier. This is the bit I was missing. I was keeping the phone by the computer.

Thankfully, there is an outlet nearby.

Thankfully, there is an outlet nearby.

Standing at the entertainment centre looking towards my makeshift work table.

Standing at the entertainment centre looking towards my makeshift work table.

DSL can’t come soon enough! But my bandwidth is holding out; I’ve only used just shy of 17% of it so far.