Day: November 23, 2017

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Home Water Delivery Finally Sorted!

There are a number of companies that sell water in door-to-door in Mérida. I’m partial to “Cristal” brand as I find it has the best flavour. So I bought two 5-gallon jugs of it when I moved here and figured that it shouldn’t be that hard to get a truck to come and replace them with full ones once a week.

Slight hiccup, I haven’t seen a single Cristal truck in my neighbourhood (despite there being numerous Cristal water sellers) and a Google search turned up nothing.

Driving in a different part of town the other day, I finally saw an elusive Cristal truck! I made a mental note of the very easy to remember number and called them up. Turns out that that was a national number and I got caught in a phone loop that was hard to make sense of. But I did figure out who makes Cristal water (Bepensa). A quick Google search for that made me realise that the Coca-Cola trucks running around the neighbourhood have Cristal water. So I decided to flag one down next time I saw one near my house.

But Bepensa also had an email address so I decided to try that, explaining that I’ve been trying to get water delivery and giving my address and phone number.

Well, just minutes after I posted my last post, I saw a red truck with bottles go by my house. I would never have seen it if the exterior office door hadn’t been open. I was fumbling to put on sandals to go chase after it when my phone rang. It was the guys in the truck trying to find me! I’m amazed by how hard of a time people have finding my house when my street is so clearly marked and there is a plaque with my address by the door.

Anyway, after confirming my address and what my house looks like, at the guy’s suggestion I went to the street with an empty jug. There, I saw the red truck somewhere down the next block with a guy standing by it talking to me on the phone. 🙂 I waved him down and he drove backwards all the way back to me!

He said that he comes by my house every Monday and Thursday around four like clockwork. So with my having one nearly full jug now and a brand new one, I should be just fine with a once a week delivery of one jug as I go about 10 to 11 days on two jugs depending on how much I’m cooking. I therefore asked them to stop on Thursdays and told them that I’m home working and it’s guaranteed that I’ll be home. Perfect. I also got a number and name in case I won’t be home or that I need Monday delivery as well.

My current water routine has been this:

-Convince the garage doors to open;

-Squeeze Moya out of her parking bay;

-Convince the garage doors to close (was advised to not leave them open even just going on a quick run);

-Drive about eight blocks to get to the Extra convenience two blocks away (dang one ways);

-Wait for the gal at the convenience store to wait on me;

-Drive two blocks home;

-Convince the garage doors to open;

-Squeeze Moya back into her bay (harder when I approach from that direction);

-Convince the garage doors to close.

Cost of the water that way: 26 pesos.

Cost of the water to have a guy drop it at my curb: 28 pesos. That’s what I’d call a no-brainer.

So there’s another thing sorted only because I’m not terrified of the phone anymore. I think I’m doing quite nicely at getting myself settled in. 🙂

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A Relaxed Thursday

A lady advertised something on the classifieds yesterday that I absolutely had to have. More on that below. I was going to jump right on a bus to go pick it up when she said that I couldn’t come straightaway since she was on her way to Costco. So I asked if she could drop it off en route as she was coming up Calle 60. I could just meet her at a bus stop along the way so she wouldn’t have to make a detour. No could do — she wasn’t driving and her driver wouldn’t make extra stops. But she would definitely hold the item for me as it was clear I knew what I was getting into and that I really wanted it.

Today being the US Thanksgiving and my clients all being American, I knew it would be a super relaxed day. I have one client for whom it’s almost like a job-job now when I get interrupted with messages on an app called “Slack” throughout the day and I actually interact with their customers via yet another app. So not having that going on would be a nice break and so I decided that I would use the trip to Centro as an excuse to eat lunch at Pita!

I headed out around eleven after quite a downpour and decided to try the bus stop right by my house on Calle 21 since it’s no longer easy to catch a bus on Calle 60. Of course, I got to the bus stop as two buses were pulling away and so I had a bit of a wait, but it was still quite convenient. I can hear buses from my house, so next time, I will wait until I hear one and then go out as that should be perfect timing to catch the next!

I rode right to the downtown terminus and then went to an HSBC to make a withdrawal before heading for my meeting. It was raining again and the address was further than I realised so I almost changed my mind about going to Pita until I remembered that I’d still have to go back to my starting point to grab a bus home! Plus, I was meeting the lady on Calle 55, the same street as Pita, just a few blocks west.

The pickup let me see the inside of a typical house in a Mexican historical centre and as when I’ve visited others in the past, I was less than impressed by how dark and damp they are and how the doors are right at the street. I’m so glad that I got the privacy I wanted between my house and the street. Since it was raining, Centro’s streets were like rivers, not nicely draining like the streets in the parts further north. The more time I spend in Centro, the gladder I am that I chose to live where I did. The architecture of the house, though, was spectacular, with lots of pasta tile floors. I was happy with the condition of the item (brand new) and the price was more than fair (better than half off what I would have spent in the US!).

I then made a dash for Pita and enjoyed a wonderful meal of what else but a falafel sandwich?! 🙂 I really need to keep making this meal a once in several months treat because I appreciate just how special it is when I have it.

It was sunny when I came out, which was fantastic because I could pull out my sunglasses. My regular glasses broke as I went to put them at the restaurant (I’d taken them off to let the lenses dry and then the arm snapped) and I didn’t relish going home having to go home blind from either either not wearing glasses or wearing ones way too dark for the gloomy day! The sun was wonderful and finally took the chill out of the air that had been lingering all day. I was the only person I interacted with today who doesn’t appreciate this bit of a “cold snap” except in the dead of night, snuggled under a blanket!

I had a bit of room for ice cream left, so I decided to try a new-to-me gelato shop. Prices were outrageous for the portion size so I won’t be going there again. But their marzipan flavour was wonderful. I adore marzipan and haven’t had it in ages.

It started to rain again as I got to Plaza Grande (brr) so I decided it was time to head home. A suitable bus was parked at the bus stop, so I got on and it got me home in record time. Just as I got off, a veritable deluge started and I was soaked when I finally got in.

After I got into warm dry clothes, it was time to find the elusive box that holds all my spare glasses. I was starting to think that I must have left it in Chelem when the answer hit me with full giggles (the house really is absurdly huge) — the guest room! Sure enough, it was in the closet there! I made a poll on Facebook and got unanimous votes for the reddish-pink ones (third down), so that’s what I’m wearing now. 🙂

I can’t believe I forgot that I have other prescription sunglasses! I think I’ll be wearing the pink ones for a bit. Love my tortoiseshell ones, but a change-up is always nice!

So my mysterious purchase. Let me preface this by saying that one of the things that bugged me most about life at the beach was that I couldn’t have any fresh air all day as I had to run the air conditioner 24/7. I was thrilled when the room in this house that made the most sense to use as my office not only had a big window, but a whole door to outside so that I could have fresh air and natural light.

Slight hiccup with the door — no screen. I would left my front door open in Maz all the time and had the bugs to show for it. I didn’t want to do that here. So I thought that maybe I could get someone to fabricate a screen door for me in a frame that could just pop into the existing door frame, as I did not want anything damaging. If I had been in Canada or the US, the answer would have been much simpler, just buy a Magic Mesh screen door:

I’ve seen these in action a few times and knew that it would be the perfect solution for a low-traffic door. In fact, I priced supplies to make my own when I was at Parisina the other day and was less than impressed by the total cost of mesh, double-sided Velcro, and magnets.

So when I saw a Magic Mesh kit posted yesterday for only $125, there was no question of not jumping on it!

Soon as the rain let up, I cleaned the doorframe with rubbing alcohol so that the Velcro could stick to it and then followed the instructions for installing the Magic Mesh. It was super quick, easy, and not fussy at all.

It is a bit short for my door frame, but truly was the best and cheapest solution. I do have to be careful when I open the solid door in the morning as it is magnetic, but the magnets on the Magic Mesh aren’t super strong and let go nicely. They also snap back together most satisfactorily when I pass through the door. I don’t think such a solution would hold up very long in a high traffic door, but for this one, the Magic Mesh should be fine.

It sure has been a treat of a Thursday, but, yikes, how did it get to be 4:30?! I did mean to get some work done today!

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Canada As a Tourist Destination

One thing I frequently get asked when I’m travelling outside of Canada is, “Is Canada a good tourist destination?”

Travel + Leisure seems to think so since it named Canada its 2017 Destination of the Year. I actually started this post before that came out and that’s what’s prompted me to actually finish the post.

So is Canada a good tourist destination worthy of such an accolade?

Unlike the vast majority of Canadians, I’ve travelled just about the entire country. I’ve been to nine of the ten provinces, two of the three territories, visited most of the major cities, been to almost every major “tourist trap,” and have experienced just about every ecosystem Canada has to offer, from desert to tundra, rainforest to plains, mountains to ocean coast, and more. So I can speak for all of it, not just the part where I’ve lived my whole life and so I believe I’m particularly qualified to answer this question of whether Canada is a good tourist destination.

My answer, with a some reservations tailored to the individual, is YES, Canada is an absolutely amazing tourist destination! And let me add that I feel so privileged to have had a chance to knock off about 99% of my Canada bucket list!

Before I get into the good stuff, let me get the negatives out of the way.

First, Canada is an expensive country. An asker from, say, Western Europe, wouldn’t get nearly the same sticker shock as someone from, say, the Balkans or Mexico. But there are some things in Canada that are pretty much universally prohibitively expensive:

  1. Groceries. While restaurant prices are quite on par with countries in Western Europe that I’ve visited (Spain, the Netherlands, the UK), groceries themselves are not. Our dairy products and produce are much costlier than I’ve seen in other countries. Someone from Japan might find them cheap, but Canada has thus far been the most expensive place I’ve ever had to buy groceries. So self-catering isn’t a guaranteed way to save when visiting Canada, depending on your style of travel. I find that in some more remote locations, you can actually eat much better quality food at a more reasonable price at a restaurant.
  2. Telecom prices in Canada are stupid. You are likely better off to get a Canada add-on to your existing cell phone plan than to buy a pay-as-you go SIM there. For Mexicans, I tell them to look into TelCel’s “sin fronteras” plan before going to Canada.
  3. Travel within Canada is very expensive. I had one lady in Spain say that she wants to visit Montreal and Vancouver. So she thought to fly to Montreal and then, “since [she] would already be in Canada, [she] could just get a cheap flight to Vancouver and fly home from there.” She was shocked to discover that the cost of flying from Montreal to Vancouver was more than the price of flying from Spain to Montreal! I really think that the best way to visit Canada, if you can take the time, is to come for many months and road trip it, preferably in an RV, and that’s not just because I’m biased towards RV travel. It’s what folks who have done it both ways have told me.

Now, what to see in Canada? Well, what do you like? Canada has something for everyone and I cannot off the top of my head think of a tourist trap that isn’t still worth visiting. For the urban-minded, we have world-class cities filled with museums and other cultural events, as well as shopping if that’s your thing. For the outdoorsy type, there is so much choice, from taking a canoeing trip on a lake to kayaking on the Arctic ocean, surfing in the middle of winter on the Vancouver Island, horseback riding on the prairies, and choosing from a myriad of hikes. If you like history, how about visiting Viking ruins, citadels, and ancient totem poles? Quebec offers non-French speakers a chance to travel somewhere that should feel more than a little exotic, plus old Montreal and Quebec City offer a taste of Europe. Canada has a lot to offer foodies as well. Depending on the region you are in, you will find foods from all over the world as well as some interesting local delicacies (Eskimo ice cream or prairie oysters, anyone?).

Really, Canada has so much to offer as a travel destination that it makes me dizzy!

For those on a tight budget and schedule, I highly recommend visiting the National Capital Region. Some will call me biased because Ottawa is my favourite city in the world. But really, coming to this area will give you access to some of Canada’s best museums, easy access to one of our magnificent national parks, and a chance to experience francophonie when you cross the Ottawa River into Gatineau. With extra time, you can also easily get to Kingston, Toronto, and Montreal. But of course, going there means missing out on our quirky Maritimes, all that Newfoundland and Labrador have to offer, our under-appreciated Prairies, and the incredible diversity of British Columbia’s landscapes, never mind the diversity of our northern territories where you can step back in time in an authentic gold rush town or experience life as it has happened for thousands of years in a small native fishing village.

Canada’s climate reputation is generally unwarranted. Regardless of where you go, you can pretty much be guaranteed decent weather three to four months of the year in the summer. In fact, I’ve had nicer summers in Yukon than much further south. For winter, don’t be fooled. 5C in Vancouver in January might sound nice, but it will be very rainy and overcast. You might actually be more comfortable in Regina at -30C, where it will be dry and sunny. The biggest mistake I see tourists make when they come to Canada is to make assumptions about the weather and then being completely inappropriate dressed for it (and it’s usually over dressed!). Do research about the climate of the specific area where you are going at the time of your adventure and then build your wardrobe around that information and the activities you plan to do.

I hope that some of my readers who have never been to Canada will eventually do so. Thank you, Travel + Leisure, for making my home country your 2017 Destination of the Year!