Month: December 2014

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My Isla Kitchen, Revisited

I’m someone who needs to cogitate a problem before finding a solution. My Isla kitchen wasn’t working for me and I’d identified a lot of the issues in my post about it, but what to do about them? I thought long and hard about my kitchen in Miranda and what it’s taken to make it just about perfect for me. What lessons there could I apply to the kitchen here?

The first one was a huge duh: PURGE. There was tons of stuff in the cabinets that I don’t use. But I can’t throw anything away… No. But there’s a huge empty space under the sink and I have a couple of empty Rubbermaid totes…

After writing my last post about my day in Maz, I went back to the kitchen and emptied everything that I don’t use, right down to the toaster, into a single tote, which I tucked out of sight. I then arranged everything I do use into the cabinets and, low and behold, there was room for food!

I was able to clear off the top of the microwave and move my food processor to a more logical location. The end result is so much more functional for me and all it took was five minutes! I’m glad I didn’t throw money at the problem, although I will now spend a little to get an extra shelf for the far cabinet (to double the space in it) as well as a basket of some sort for the spices.

I know it's not ideal to store spices and such next to the stove, but this works. I will pick up a nice bucket at Waldo's at some point to store them in to make clean up easier.

I know it’s not ideal to store spices and such next to the stove, but this works. I will pick up a nice basket at Waldo’s at some point to store them in to make clean up easier.

Look at that!

Look at that! Middle bottom shelf, you can see on the far left my big box of powdered milk for the coffee and right next to it is my jar of yummy Isla honey. And then, lots o’ coffee. 🙂

The kitchen looks so much less crowded and cleaner now. I do need to get rid of the duck between the stove and crock (it holds matches).

The kitchen looks so much less crowded and cleaner now. I do need to get rid of the duck between the stove and utensil bucket (it holds matches).

My crock is full of not just the large cooking utensils, but also the eating ones, my can opener (glad I brought one!), and my BBQ lighter. During the purge, I found a large chopping knife that looks pretty sharp.

My utensil bucket is full of not just the large cooking utensils, but also the eating ones, my can opener (glad I brought one!), and my BBQ lighter. During the purge, I found a large chopping knife that looks pretty sharp that should be better than the steak knives for chopping veggies. One thing I forgot to pick up today is a couple of butter knives for spreading things like cream cheese. I can’t believe there isn’t a single one in this kitchen!

One thing I miss is my tiny strainer for collecting the pits from limes and lemons. This set was overkill, but at just 150 pesos, it was worth it just to never have to bit down into another lime pit again this winter! They should be good for jalapeño seeds, too!

One thing I miss from home is my tiny strainer for collecting the pits from limes and lemons. This set was overkill, but at just 15 pesos, it was worth it just to never have to bite down into another lime pit again this winter! They will be good for jalapeño seeds, too, as well as rinsing rice and lentils! I use both a colander and two sizes of strainers at Haven, so these will bring some sense of normalcy to my kitchen. 🙂

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Mazatlán Driving Adventure

Today was the day to pick up my new neighbour at the airport. I decided to take advantage of the fact that I’d be past The Road to go to town with my truck and pick up a computer chair.

I left around 11:00 and it took exactly 40 minutes to drive the 12KM/7.5 miles to pavement. The Road was much better than it was a month ago!

I had written down the instructions to get to Walmart, which should have been an easy off of MX-15, but, of course, there was construction and whatnot and I never saw a sign for the exit I needed to take. I pulled over and asked Siri for directions. For whatever reason, she can’t find the closer Walmart and Google is incapable of routing me anywhere, so I just followed the Siri to the farther out Walmart, where I was pretty close by that point.

Walmart, to my immense surprise, did not have any furniture, only mattresses! 🙁 I was there, so I picked up some glass plates and a few things for the apartment. I wanted some cleaning products and found a really good deal on a bucket full of everything I needed for just 63 pesos!

I had no idea where to find a computer chair and struck out on Google searches the other night for Mazatlán office furniture. I decided to go to Home Depot and then Soriana. Of course, both Siri and Google were useless, so I used my own navigational sense and idea of where the Home Depot was in relation to the farther away Walmart (I’ve spent a lot of time looking at maps lately) and made it there by what was very likely the most direct route! And someone said to me recently that I don’t have strong navigational skills!

But right across from the Home Depot I saw an Office Depot! I ‘circled around the block’, which you can’t actually do in Maz, and eventually made it to the store. There, I quickly settled on the cheapest chair I could find that had a decent flexible back and cushioned seat, on sale from 1,400 to 1,200 pesos. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but this is a non-negotiable! (Remember, this is just a chair for the next five months. I gladly paid a lot more than that for the chair I have in Miranda!)

I was once again glad for my language skills because how to get the chair was not obvious. I noticed a yellow ticket behind the price tag and pulled it out. It had instructions to take said ticket to the till and the item would brought out for me. That was fairly uneventful. The (boxed) chair was put into a cart for me and I was left to my own devices to get it to the truck.

Soon as I reached my truck and had the back open, a man materialized and got the box into the truck and was gone with the cart before I even had time to blink! I went to him and offered five pesos and he refused! Wow! How nice of him!

There was a ScotiaBank right next door, so I thought that would be a good place to withdraw cash. HA. It refused my card, as did the HSBC in the Soriana on the other side of the Office Depot. Probably some sort of immature competition thing with CIBC.

It was getting late and I wanted to be at the airport by no later than 3:30, so I headed off in roughly the direction of MX-15 and, again, found it without trouble. And by ‘without trouble’ I mean I still had to grow eyes behind my head and drive super aggressively and whatnot, but there were not wrong turns. Driving in Maz is absolutely no worse than driving in the Montreal area.

I passed a Banamex and pulled in. It was a long wait, but I had no trouble withdrawing what I needed. From now on, Banamex has my business as it’s the only bank that has so far worked for me consistently.

It was then stop and go traffic through and out of Maz. Once I hit the open road, I pulled into a Pemex and put in 400 pesos of gas, which got me about a third of a tank of fuel. Ouch! (I’ve returned home with almost three quarters of a tank.)

The airport was not far at that point and I arrived at 3:15. I circled around to see if perhaps my neighbour was waiting outside, but no. So I pulled into the parking lot, 30 pesos for the first hour, and went in to wait.

The Maz airport is super super tiny. I had hoped to get lunch there once the AC had a chance to rev up my appetite, but there really wasn’t anything. The plane had landed, so I thought it would be a short wait, but no. I was there a full 45 minutes.

Before one more person tells me how nice I was to have gone to pick up my neighbour, I will say that I was very reticent at the thought of doing so, but willing to go if she had no other options, until she said she would pay me the same as she would a taxi. I knew it would be a long drive and a long wait and payment made it worth my while. She was glad to have someone waiting for her.

The drive home seemed a lot faster. We got her luggage out of my truck and she went off to see a friend. I told her I would make supper and if she was hungry later, she was welcome to come over and I would heat up a plate for her.

After a really yummy pasta meal, I attempted to assemble my chair. Of course, it’s the same story as with just about anything you buy these days, shoddy construction. There’s a part that I need to unscrew to fit in the back rest. It will be impossible to do so with hands only, as the instructions say, and I need to find someone with vice grips and a star screw driver. I’m kicking myself for not bringing a tool kit. I have big work job to do tomorrow and pretty close to angry that I won’t be able to use my new chair after all the energy spent getting it. 🙁

The only other thing of note today was that I went into the Soriana and had a bit of a poke around. It sure has a lot more than does the Ley! I didn’t look at prices, so I don’t know how they compare. I could easily walk there (5KM/3 miles) from the panga and take a pulmonía back.

Most of the shoppers at Walmart were Gringos (because we were in the Golden Zone). The only reason I felt compelled to go to Walmart was it was the first logical place to go in search of a computer chair. Otherwise, I have no strong urge to go there and am happy shopping at Ley, Waldo’s, the Mercado, the City Deli, etc.

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Live Music at Macaws in Mazatlán

Dale drove down to Maz with a musician friend who plays at a bunch of venues around Maz. She’s been wanting to go hear him play since she got here, but was leery of going out alone after dark. Now that we’re both comfortable going from the panga to the historical district, going out after dark didn’t feel like a big issue.

She swung by my place at 5:00 and we headed out to the panga at around 5:15, already dusk, with a huge moon hanging over Isla. It was getting on dark when we landed. We had decided to walk to the venue, a B&B/restaurant called Macaws, but take a pulmonía back.

We walked down Emilio Barragán to Constitución, which took us to the Plaza Machado. It was so different from the plaza during the day, lined with restaurant tables and full of vendors and live music!

At the end of it, we had to turn left, then immediately right, and then walked more or less straight down to Macaws, which is right in front of the art museum.

Dale wasn’t hungry, but I decided to order dinner. Being tired of Mexican food (*sheepish grin*), I was very happy to order a burger, 60 pesos for a basic one with fries, but I added a whopping (*tongue firmly in cheek*) 30 pesos worth of pepper jack cheese, sautéed onions, and bacon. It was a really good burger, missing only a bit of mustard and relish, but otherwise as good as anything I could get back home.

The music tonight was jazz and absolutely lovely, providing atmosphere, but not so much volume that we couldn’t talk. My favourite song was their rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, played very slow and melancholy. I said to Dale that I think I live over the rainbow and she clinked my beer bottle in agreement!

Dale is a slow drinker and had just one beer. I like mine cold, so I easily made my way through two. 🙂

At one point, an older gentleman sat with us because the place was quite full and he and I had a nice chat while Dale and her friend headed out to see another friend during a break in the music. He’s from Vancouver, is sailing, and is anchored in Maz.

Macaws makes homemade ice cream and Dale had decided when I ordered my burger that she was going to order their Butterfinger ice cream near the end of the evening. I asked if they had chocolate, yes, so I caved and got some too. OMG. Dale and I are pretty sure it was the best ice cream we have had in our lives! I couldn’t have had a full dish of the delicious Butterfinger (I have trouble now with ice cream that has a lot of extra stuff in it like caramel), but the chocolate was perfect with me and I had no trouble with the bitter chunks of dark chocolate that studded the ice cream.

It wasn’t a cheap night for me in pesos, almost 300 after the tips to the waiter and band, but such good value!

We left Macaws at about nine after the music was done and Dale could say goodbye to her friend. We then walked back to Plaza Machado. We had a look at all the wares and no one was pushy, to my immense surprise.

I somehow managed to come here without a notebook or much paper and have been scrambling to take notes, so I’ve had a notebook on my shopping list. Before going to Macaws, I had seen some beautiful notebooks made of recycled paper, the covers of which featured artwork that could later be framed. One struck me in particular and I was still thinking about it as we headed home.

On the first pass around the plaza, I saw that it was still there and as we walked around, I thought about how much I would be willing to pay, settling on 50 pesos. I stopped a third time in front of the table and asked how much. 50 pesos! I offered 35 and the guy said absolutely not, no less than 40. Sold!

We then headed to where all the pulmonías stop and I asked how much to get to the panga. How much were we willing to pay? Dale said no more than 40. The guy said, ha, no less than 50. Dale said that we would walk. The guy said fine, 45. We both found that pricey for the short distance that we were going, but fine split two ways. It really makes me realise that my trip yesterday from the Golden Zone was a good deal!

The panga runs at the regular price until midnight, when it jumps to a whopping 60 pesos each way. It was only 9:40 when we got to the dock, so we paid just 8 pesos each.

Dale doesn’t wear her reading glasses and relies heavily on me to sort out her currency when we’re together. I said drily to the rather morose cashier that Dale needed her glasses and the cashier burst out laughing, which was very rewarding. Dale said that ‘gafas’ is her word of the day.

The panga arrived after about five minutes, the first time I’ve had to wait for one. After that, home was only about 10 minutes away and I made it home at just about bang on 10:00.

We’re both so glad that we went out tonight. I would feel perfectly comfortable going out like that on my own, with the pulmonía ride back. The area around Plaza Machado was hopping and the ambiance was warm and welcoming. But Dale is eager to go try out another venue her friend plays at, so I doubt I’ll have much need to go out alone!

The singer. Notice the light above her is shaped like a firefly!

The singer. Notice the light above her is shaped like a firefly!

The best chocolate ice cream I have ever had in my life, even better than the best gelato.

The best chocolate ice cream I have ever had in my life, even better than the best gelato.

Butterfinger has peanut butter in it.

Butterfinger has peanut butter in it.

The lights of home.

The lights of home.

Ship in the harbour on the Maz side.

Ship in the harbour on the Maz side.

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Camarones Al Coco En La Playa

I felt like having lunch out today. No reason and not for lack of food at home! I emailed Dale to see if she wanted to join me. Yes, for a beer only since she had just had a big breakfast. We went to El Velero, where I had the tacos my first morning here.

We ordered two Pacificos and they they didn’t have any of the 355mL bottles (!) so they brought us a 900ishmL ‘Ballena’ bottle to share. Total cost for that was 30 pesos. Two of the smaller bottles would have cost us 50 pesos for less beer! Dale and I had a good laugh about that. We “dressed” our beers with salt and lime!

I decided to order the coconut shrimp! I have no idea what is getting into me these days. 🙂 The shrimp came with buttered toast (Dale laughed at my, “Oh, it’s BREAD!”), delicately seasoned rice, frozen veggies (carrot, broccoli, cauliflower), and an incredible mango dipping sauce, for 120 pesos. The shrimp were huge and the coconut crunchy. Yum!

The only downside to the meal was that we were hounded and hounded and hounded by vendors. The only vendor who scored was the one selling honey. I got a residente price of 70 pesos for a big jar, way more than I could hope to eat anytime soon, but honey doesn’t spoil. Sugar is sugar and I have no illusion about honey being any healthier than other sweet options, but I love the taste and sometimes a schmear of something sweet on a tortilla is a nice treat.

Tonight, Dale and I are going to the historical centre to hear live music! It will be my first time experiencing Maz after dark. We are walking both ways from the panga on Isla, but will walk to the venue as it will still be early and then take a pulmonía back to the panga.

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Mexican Currency

I am using cash exclusively in Mexico simply because the places where I shop don’t take cards. In one way, this makes it easy to budget because I see how much money I have and can divvy it up to last me as long as I intend for it to last. The downside is that most places don’t give a receipt, so it’s hard to keep track of exactly where my money is going, although, really, most if it is ultimately food

I’m learning what coins and bills are the most useful to have on hand and which are a pain.

The worst at the 500 peso bills (brown). Think of them as as $50 bill. I can’t think of any place on Isla where I would feel comfortable pulling out a 500 peso bill unless I was buying at least 400 pesos worth of something because most place just don’t have the change for them. For my situation, the 500 peso bills are so hard to break up that I feel like I might as well have no money. I do like them for paying rent, though.

Next are the 200 peso bills (green). Think of them as a $20 bill. I feel embarrassed when I have to pull one out for a purchase that is less than 100 pesos and have been frequently told by vendors that they can’t make change for them. They’re not as bad as the 500 peso bills, but I still feel hampered when that’s all I have. I was glared at yesterday when I bought my 8 peso panga ticket with a 200 peso bill.

Next are the 100 peso bills (orange). Think of them as a $10 bill. I don’t have any problem spending them, although I was embarrassed at the City Deli the other day buying 9 pesos worth of veggies with a 100 peso bill and the gal had to scramble to find me change.

Then, there are the 50 peso bills (red). Think of them as a $5 bill. These are great! I seem to make a lot of purchases that are about 50 pesos and I’ve never had trouble spending them.

The last bills are 20 pesos (blue). They are like a toonie and very useful, too, especially for tips at a restaurant or buying a beer or ice cream!

And after that, you get the 10 peso coin, which is like a loonie. This one is invaluable! So many things cost 10 pesos or so, like a panga ride, a 5-gallon bottle of water, or a bag of peanuts.

Next, you have a 5 peso coin, which is like a 50-cent piece. Very useful for buying tortillas!

Finally, there are 1 and 2 peso coins, which are like a dime and a quarter. These are best saved for tipping.

There are also smaller coins for centavos, which are a division of the peso. I’ve been given them as change, but have never been asked to provide some, with partial amounts rounded up or down to the nearest peso the way that we do in Canada now that the penny is out of circulation. I give those plus a peso or two the grocery store baggers.

I am getting more comfortable with the currency, especially when it comes to telling the coins apart. The 10 pesos have a gold border and a silver centre and are slightly larger than the 5 pesos, which have a silver border and a gold centre. So they would be easy to tell apart even if they were the same size. I’m still struggling with the 1 and 2 peso coins, which are essentially identical except for size, and more than one honest person has told me I gave 2 pesos instead of 1!

There are also 1,000 peso bills and 20 peso coins, but I’ve definitely not seen the former and fairly certain I have not seen the latter.

Except for blogging purposes, I rarely feel a need to convert pesos to CAD to decide if I want to buy something because I already have a very good idea of how far my money can go here and what’s a reasonable price or not. I am thinking of going to Walmart tomorrow to buy a proper computer chair and for that I will likely do some currency conversion, but for groceries and basic household items, I know that the price is so low I don’t have to worry about how many dollars I’m spending.

It’s really much more important to know how many pesos I’ve spent so far that month and how much month I have left to determine if I want to buy something since the currency conversion was done at the ATM and those pesos are out of my CAD budget anyway.

Spending a currency that isn’t dollars or pounds is a lot of fun, to be honest. The novelty hasn’t worn off yet! But, yes, it still feels like I’m spending ‘real’ money! 🙂