I didn’t get to sleep until about 12:30 last night (actually this morning). I slept hard until six when I was woken by the light from the skylights, which don’t have covers. I was rather impressed that I knew where my sleep mask was! I pulled it on and passed out for nearly another four hours.

So I got up around 9:45 and went to the kitchen, which smelled wonderfully of chorizo. F very kindly made me a wonderful coffee, and I put together a couple of chorizo “burritos” for breakfast. F then helped me get the truck fully unloaded (THANK YOU). The few things that don’t need to be in the air conditioning were put in a storage room, but the rest all came into my suite.

I started to sort through it all and put on my first of what will be several loads of laundry. Once my hosts leave next week, all the kitchen stuff will be unpacked, cleaned thoroughly, and then stored in the empty cabinets in the kitchen. For now, the boxes are neatly piled in my suite. I want to get myself a couple of bookcases so I can unpack my books. It’s nice to know I can buy stuff since it’ll move to my house with me in the fall.

After I’d regained a semblance of order amidst the chaos and located my bathing suit, I went for a swim! OMG. I forgot how wonderful it is to have a pool!!!!!!! I am going to spend A LOT of time in that pool this summer, obviously.

I then had a very late lunch and after that, I went to Chelem with F so he could give me an idea of what services are available. Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything within walking distance since I’m at least 3KM from downtown Chelem. Yes, I know I walked twice that far in Bulgaria to go to Yablanitsa, but I at least had the little store right in Maluk Izvor. Here, It’s about 3KM just to get fresh tortillas, so I’ll likely make my own. Living here definitely won’t be as convenient as was life on Isla since I have to haul out my own trash and there’s no home delivery of tortillas and veggies. I might be able to get water delivered, though.

Chelem is a lot bigger than I expected and by that, I mean there are more shops and restaurants. I will get what I need there and I can go into Progreso and Mérida for what I want. Yucatán is not an agricultural state and I remember from my visit here last year that the produce in supermarkets was pretty sad and expensive. V says that Costco has the best offerings so I’ll finally be getting a card for there. Since the house here has AC, I’m not going to have to worry about spoilage the way I did in Maz and will be able to buy in bulk.

V is thoroughly spoiling me and made a nice dinner tonight as well. After 10 days in the truck, it’s nice to have some fresh meat and veggies! I have told them that I’m not so broke right now that I can’t afford to eat out and they can certainly show me all the restaurants nearby. 😀 (OMG, I just heard a gecko!!!!!) Apparently, there is a very good Thai restaurant nearby and one guy cooks Indian food one day a week! And, of course, there are plenty of taquerias in Chelem.

Tomorrow, I have some work to do and will continue to recover from the excitement of the last several weeks. Monday, F and V are taking me to Progreso to start on my immigration stuff. I’ve got a roughly 3,500 peso payment left to make to get my residency card and then the financial bleed will finally stop, not a moment too soon! I actually wish I could wait until next week to make that payment, but I really should not waste any time getting the ball rolling on this process.

It hit me today as I started to unpack my things, especially my framed art, that I’m really here to stay. Yes, I’m moving again in six months, but I sure won’t be going far!

It was a very pleasant first day here. I know I won’t get really settled and into a routine until I’m on my own, but it’s nice to ease into things with my local guides.