Day: December 9, 2014

by

Conversation With the Veggie Guy

I had a nice conversation with the veggie guy today that I wanted to discuss in a separate post. I’m noticing that my conversational Spanish is most definitely improving!

The conversation started with my asking him how to say broccoli in Spanish. He gave me a bemused smile and said brócoli. Well, that one’s easy!

I said that I love that veggie, but my favourite is green beans (ejotes). He asked how I cook them and I said I usually have them raw as a snack. I didn’t have that word, so said between lunch and dinner and he understood. If I cook them, I might use some lime juice or garlic to give them kick, but usually have them plain. He showed me how fresh his beans are by snapping them.

This was a good place to praise him for the quality of his veggies and he said that he gets fresh ones every day, except for bananas, because Isla residents like them super ripe. He gets not so ripe ones for the Gringos. I said that I take the super ripe ones and put them in the freezer and he laughed, saying that folks on Isla do that, cover them in chocolate (‘chocobananas’) and sell them for a lot (¡muy caro!).

He then asked me how long I’m staying and I said till the end of April and I’d like to see him more often. 😀

We then moved onto where am I from, yes it’s cold there right now, yes I love the heat and sun here!

He asked if I’m enjoying Isla and Maz and I said yes. Isla is a little noisy, but I live in a tiny village, so being able to walk to a bar and grocery store is great, plus Maz is so close by.

I told him about going to listen to music last Friday and that I’m going again tomorrow night and that it’s great that everything is so close by.

He asked how I got there and I said that I walked there, but took a pulmonía back to the panga. He said that’s the right thing to do, very safe to walk around the Plaza Machado, but not such a great idea to go from there to the panga on foot, even as a group, after eight or so.

We covered a lot, didn’t we?! All in Spanish! Sure, my verb tenses were all over the place and I sometimes had to talk around words (‘the thing that makes ice’ for the freezer, for example), but we understood each other perfectly!

I really need to find a conversational teacher, someone with whom I could discuss the news one week, cooking another, Mexican culture another, etc. I’ll have to ask around and see if I can get any recommendations. I need someone not just to talk to, but to correct my verb tenses, grammar, and help me build my vocabulary and learn idiomatic phrases and whatnot. I’m making giant steps on my own, but I definitely need some help to improve! I really want to find out the nuances between gustaría, quisiera, and quiero for ‘I would like X, please’, for one!

One thing I am making an effort on is talking to people at stores if they seem even remotely inclined to be chatty, especially here on Isla. The gal at the City Deli is always busy, but usually finds time to ask me how I’m doing and such. It’s not much, but it’s more than when I first got here!

by

Salad

IMG_0339

This extremely simple salad would be such a big treat at Haven. I can’t get decent veggies in Assiniboia most of the year and when the lettuce and tomatoes are decent, I’m going into town so rarely that a salad can be had maybe one or two days a month. I’m always ecstatic when Caroline and Charles have enough produce to share!

Here, fresh veggies are easily accessible and super cheap so I’m making an effort to make salads more regularly. This one is super basic and really doesn’t have much in it; romaine lettuce, tomato, red onion, turkey ham, and Oaxaca cheese. I don’t buy salad dressing, so I made one with oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder. Not as good as the one I make with balsamic vinegar and honey Dijon, but still tasty!

by

A Full Half-Day

I’m trying to get into some better habits here, including not going straight to my office first thing in the morning, but rather going for a walk. I did that, came home, had coffee and a sincronizada, and started on work.

This is my neighbour literally right across from me. No windows, no doors, no running water, no power, but look at the pride of ownership with the neat front yard and vegetable garden. He's a nice guy!

This is my neighbour literally right across from me. No windows, no doors, no running water, no power, but look at the pride of ownership with the neat front yard and vegetable garden. He’s a nice guy!

Lots of pretty flowers blooming today.

Lots of pretty flowers blooming today.

This was my first view of Isla. You turn onto this road from The Road and it brings you to the RV park.

This was my first view of Isla. You turn onto this road from The Road and it brings you to the RV park.

Bottle wall.

Bottle wall.

This Quebec-plated vehicle was purchased in the city where my older sister lives.

This Quebec-plated vehicle was purchased in the city where my older sister lives.

On this dirt road next to busy stables sits this gorgeous modern construction.

On this dirt road next to busy stables sits this gorgeous modern construction.

And next to that modern house sits this family compound. I don't find the contrast that startling considering that I live on a street with proper houses and have an RV and two old sheds for outbuildings. :)

And next to that modern house sits this family compound. I don’t find the contrast that startling considering that I live on a street with proper houses and have an RV and two old sheds for outbuildings. 🙂

I'm seeing lots of Christmas decorations.

I’m seeing lots of Christmas decorations.

I would never have realised that this is a public alley if I hadn't come from the other direction.

I would never have realised that this is a public alley between those two houses if I hadn’t come from the other direction.

Janet and Grant came by at one point to pick up something I had for them, so I got to meet their super friendly and sweet pooch, Boo. We’ve already arranged that I’m Boo’s sitter if he ever needs one, so it was especially nice to get to meet him.

Grant left with the seat for my computer chair in the hopes of getting access to the necessary tools to make it work. I’ve asked for tools and received offers for them, but everyone is on Mexico time in terms of the tools materializing and I really wasn’t in the mood to wait any longer. My back is really sore and I’m having trouble focusing on work because I’m in so much pain.

I went back to work and Dale emailed to say that she’d come by around 11:00 to show me a new-to-her shop on Isla that I surely didn’t know about either. Great! I was peckish by this point, so I peeled a massive grapefruit and made my way through half of it by the time Grant returned.

Big bowl of toronja. I LOVE grapefruit. Please don't ruin it by adding sugar.

Big bowl of toronja. I LOVE grapefruit. Please don’t ruin it by adding sugar.

Between the two of us, we got the chair assembled! Yay!!! It is soooo comfortable. The only disappointment is that the arms are too low to be useful, but everything else is wonderful, especially since I only paid 1,200 pesos for it.

Yay for a comfy chair!

Yay for a comfy chair!

As Grant was leaving, he noticed the better veggie truck going by and I yelled out, “¡Verduras!” but the driver didn’t hear me. A guy walking down the street did and chased down the veggie truck for me!

I really didn’t need anything, but I still loaded up on things that have been elusive on Isla, like dark lettuce, green beans, and even a broccoli! I also bought a whole pineapple! I’m having salad for lunch to eat up some of those veggies.

Dale showed up as I was done shopping, so off we went. She took me to a part of Isla I hadn’t been to yet (I really need to explore more, I’m ashamed to admit) and found a whole street of shops to explore, including a bookstore, Telcel service store (!), and a tiny grocer that has a few things the City Deli didn’t, including rubber gloves. I picked up a pack of those, some baking soda for my fridge, chihuahua cheese, and crema for something like 83 pesos. Crazy!