I’m happy to report that July had an adventure. I had thought to get away in June, but the logistics with the dogs was too complicated.

But first, obligatory cats pic:

I mentioned no churn ice cream in my June post. July is when I discovered this decadent eggless concoction made of whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk. Since the pandemic, I have not had a decent ice cream place other than Dairy Queen near me, so being able to make my own satisfying ice cream with almost no effort and with whatever mix-ins I want has been amazing! This first effort was pistachio with chocolate ganache.

There’s a decent taco place across from Pilates with an incredible salsa de árbol. I pretty much only eat there for that, and not that often either as I usually come out of Pilates too late. Well, I went in July, and the server greeted me with “Hi, long time no see, here is your salsa naranja. Al pastor paquete with everything but no cheese on corn tortillas with jamaica to drink, right?

Then he turned to another server and said, “I told you she existed.”

What am I, the Bigfoot of taquerías? 🤣🤣

In July, I took advantage of a sale and got an ice maker, something I’d been thinking about for a long time. Croft helped me figure out a routine with it. Turns out you have to let them run for a few hours for the machine to get cold before it’ll start producing usable ice cubes. I run it every few days for a morning to fill a bag. My foster son, Roscoe, loves ice, so that’s a nice treat for him.

I wasn’t able to eat beans for years, not realising it was a way of my body trying to regulate my blood sugar. Since the spring, I’ve been rediscovering them, and my favourite way to have them is in a highly seasoned sauce (English curry style) with flat bread. This particular version was different, with a Japanese flavour profile that involved miso and rice wine vinegar. My bread above was meant to be pita but turned out more like naan, a happy event as fresh pita is easy to find here while naan is not and I haven’t had much luck with actual naan recipes.

I tried a bunch of melons in July. This one was so delicious despite its hideous name of toad skin!

My next ice cream was my favourite flavour of cookies and cream. That one disappeared so fast I decided I need to take a brief break from making ice cream.

Here’s a shot of the jicama fridge pickles I referenced in a previous post (the flecks are Tajín seasoning because I’m a genius):

The new fridge is just so amazing, tons and tons and tons of room to put meal prepped items. I’m definitely due, after a few months of living with it, to empty it out and reorganize it, but even in its current state it is so much more functional than was the side-by-side with its cavernous cubicles.

By the end of July, I was a bit on edge, just needing a break. Coming out of Pilates on a Saturday morning, I suddenly remembered that I have a local driver’s license and can rent a car. I headed down to Fiesta Americana to see if anyone had a car available for a few days. I ended up with this modern Batmobile looking thing from Kia.

Sunday morning, I decided to do the circuit I’d promised I’d do whenever I got access to more fuel-efficient vehicle than Moya had been, and ideally with air conditioning!

I head north towards Progreso and finally turned right to follow the coast all the way to Dzilam de Bravo.

I tried to get a ride on a lancha to go to a nearby cenote, but despite seeing many boats go out, there was never a seat left over for me.

I had lunch at Los pericos, where service was great and the food delicious!

They started me off with a tray of complimentary botanas that included beets!

My main was succulent camarones a la diabla, by far the best shrimp I’ve had on this side of Mexico.

Since I was driving, I had a couple of limonadas minerales rather than a beer. They also offered me a free dessert of meringue, which I was so sad to have to decline.

I went back to the car after to get a hat, discovered damage to the car (missing side view mirror!), and decided to stroll through town then head home. I messaged the rental company to let them know about the incident. I’d gotten nearly full coverage, so I wasn’t too worried about being charged for the damage, but I’d read the contract fine print and knew I had to report the damage before returning the car.

The town had some pretty spots.

This was a great day and reminded me of how much bigger my world will be when I can head out on excursions like this on a whim.

Monday, I only enjoyed the car in the evening, to go to Pilates and then Walmart. Being able to drive to Pilates and the gym would be the single biggest improvement to my current situation that I can think of, turning 50-minute roundtrip into a 20-minute one. Near daily swims before work would suddenly be possible. And while I prefer not to drive after dark, doing so in my area is not a problem.

Tuesday, the car had to be back by about 2:00. I had a dentist appointment at 10:00, so I went for a swim first. The appointment took a bit longer than expected as the dentist decided to clean my teeth. I was then officially released from orthodontic treatment and regular visits at very long last!

After that, I drove a few blocks to Amato for brunch. The carnitas chilquiles were incredible (and so pretty!).

I then drove to Parque Oriente, quite a distance from my house, that I’d last been to with Bonita in 2019! The memories were bittersweet.

I dropped the car off around 1:00 as I had some work to do. As expected, I had no extra charge for the damage, but there was some paperwork, including writing a little report.

I took an Uber home and the driver did the most Mexican thing imaginable: he stopped at a roadside stand for fruit.

Speaking of which, here’s another melon I tried. This one wasn’t nearly as good.

I’ve been catching a lot of amazing sunsets:

My favourite cocina economica started sending me fresh whole habanero peppers with my lunches.

I still can’t get through a whole one, but am making good progress. I prefer the red ones as they are much sweeter (think green versus red pepper).

I’ve been eating regularly from this cocina for nearly eight years now. I can’t believe I’ve been here the better part of a decade!

July’s car rental made me realise I’m way overdue to get a car. Driving here when I know the city, have air conditioning, am in a small vehicle that’s easy to park, and especially have reliable navigation with Waze is a far cry from when I was driving here pre-pandemic with my truck. The thing is that it’s complicated to buy a car in Yucatán, the financing options aren’t great (very high interest rates), and prices have risen enough that it’d take too long to save up to pay cash. So I’m working at reorganising a few things to make a partial loan work, hopefully in the start of the new year. I already know what I want. 🙂