I didn’t get to sleep till around midnight, so when I woke up at 6:00 this morning, I rolled over, determined to get another hour. I managed another 2.25 hours! Sundays tend to be pretty quiet on Isla.

The work on the property appeared to be done, so I looked forward to my first day in a long time (since before the neighbour arrived) that I might be able to work uninterrupted.

By noon, I’d done a good morning’s worth of work and then my transcription software crashed (it’s a piece of crap, but the only app available to me). I took that as a sign that I needed to get some air and sun and fresh tortillas for lunch since it takes so long for the app to get up and running again.

Isla was humming with activity, but still much more quiet than during the week. I always love the bit of my walk where I emerge from my dusty street onto the paved Calle Principal by the butcher shop, what with the ATVs and pick up trucks whizzing by.

I greeted the people I passed, engaged in idle conversation, and before I knew it, I was at the tortillería. I got 4.5 pesos worth and for the first time, the amount wasn’t rounded up or down. I gave 5 pesos and got a little coin back that I already had in my purse. So now I know those two itty bitty centavo coins add up to a peso. I still can’t be bothered to learn them and just give them to the baggers at Ley. 🙂

The weather was glorious and warm today, feeling especially so after yesterday’s rather cool spell.

I’m so content here and loving the quiet domesticity to my routine, shopping nearly daily for food, buying tortillas from the tortillería and vegetables off a truck, and getting to know the people who sell me the wholesome food that nourishes both my body and soul.

I only have four full months left on Isla and I know they will go by too fast. I am glad to be a third of the way into my winter without having yet had a ‘yup, had enough of Mexico and ready to go home,’ moment. I find it interesting that the moments of displeasure and frustration have stemmed from encounters with expat Mexico. I’m nervous about saying more about that because I know I will offend people. I will just repeat what I’ve said in the past, we all come here for different reasons and seeking different experiences, and no reason is more valid than another, but I didn’t come here to be back home, only with better weather.

The slightly chaotic rhythm of life in suburban Mexico suits me. I find in it the same qualities that made me fall in love with my part of Canada, where the Establishment is far enough away that things can get done without bureaucracy getting in the way of common sense.