Mazatlan

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Patient People

I just returned from my getting some hot dogs for dinner, two this week. And I was right last week to feel awful, they are TRECE not tres pesos (13, not 3). OMG, I’m so embarrassed. The lady didn’t say anything about last week though, bless her.

We gabbed while another lady got my order together. One of the things she asked me if I’m staying here, on Isla, for the whole of my stay in Mexico. I didn’t understand her question the first time, so she rephrased it. I didn’t get it a second time, so she rephrased it again. And then I got it!

What threw me is she kept saying ‘siempre’ (forever), so my first answer was that I’m only here for the winter and then that I arrived in November and am leaving in April. How she finally phrased the question was something along the lines of “Are you stay here for that whole period of time?”

I am so grateful when people are so patient because how else am I going to learn?! Too many people would have just accepted my incorrect answers, but took the time to teach me. And all within the couple of minutes it took to get my hot dogs together!

BTW, a carry out order translates literally to “para llevar” (to carry). I said “para ir” (to go) to the first lady, who did not relay that to the second lady, who then asked me if I wanted my dogs “¿para aquí or para llevar?”, another sneaky way of teaching me vocabulary, albeit probably unintentionally.

Mayonnaise seems to be popular here and the lady putting together my order started reaching for it. I said no, eggs make me ill. The lady I was speaking with interjected and proudly recited my order from last week (cebollas, tomates, mostaza)! She really did remember me and let me save face about the whole 13/3 peso thing. She’s a darling! So 26 pesos (just over 2CAD) for these, pricier than for a couple of steamés in Quebec, but maybe even more delicious. As it turns out, the dogs are cooked in bacon. No wonder they are so yummy!

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Beach Shots

Sunset earlier this week.

Sunset earlier this week.

I like the little chariot.

I like the little chariot.

There was a bit of a drop off on the beach today.

There was a bit of a drop off on the beach today.

Low tide is wonderful for walking.

Low tide is wonderful for walking.

The beach is so pretty at low tide.

The beach is so pretty at low tide.

Waves coming in.

Waves coming in.

This fish made it back to the open ocean only to be promptly swooped up by a pelican! I saw his tail flapping in the bird's beak!

This fish made it back to the open ocean only to be promptly swooped up by a pelican! I saw his tail flapping in the bird’s beak!

These birds have bright red beaks.

These birds have bright red beaks.

So gorgeous.

So gorgeous.

This bubble ran across the surface of the sand for quite a distance.

This bubble ran across the surface of the sand for quite a distance.

This was the last landmark before the nearly endless forest of palm trees until the golf course, many miles away.

This was the last landmark before the nearly endless forest of palm trees until the golf course, many miles away.

Lots of palms trees on the way back to the populated part of the beach.

Lots of palms trees on the way back to the populated part of the beach.

Saw lots of these marks in the sand. Some kind of sand worm?

Saw lots of these marks in the sand. Some kind of sand worm?

Nature makes some amazing things, doesn't it?

Nature makes some amazing things, doesn’t it?

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Racing Deadlines

Whew!

I’ve just completed two huge days for my non-transcription client (my uncle’s company). I haven’t had much work from them this year, partly because I haven’t been available, but also because I do relief work for my mother and she’s always caught in a catch-22 where when she needs me, she’s too busy to have time to put jobs together for me.

I suspected, correctly, that I might get some work from them at the end of this year because that’s when one of their clients updates its forms. I’ve had a few small jobs in the past week from other clients of theirs, but this week the big(gish) one landed, with just a couple of days to complete. It was one of those ‘work till it’s done’ type of jobs with a very tight deadline.

This is the kind of work I love as it’s creative, methodical, and logical. I can lose myself in it for hours. It is frustrating that I have to work in a Windows environment, but that’s my only quibble.

Today, I had to get the proofs out. Exceptionally, I was put in direct contact with the client, so I got to see the feedback for my work firsthand. Only four modifications to make, two of which were changes on their part rather than errors. It was very gratifying!

I might have one more big day on this job because we’re waiting for the final approvals. What a perfect week for this job since the transcription work I was expecting didn’t come in!

As for transcription, my big law enforcement client and I have agreed to go our separate ways. We were not a good fit for each other. I’ll miss the income, but not the ulcers I was starting to get from all the unprofessional emails I was receiving.

Anyway, there are other things in the pipeline. A good paying contract with a US state to do their legislative hearings is starting again at the beginning of the January and will take me through the winter. Also, another client is trying to increase the rates her clients pay her so she can give me a raise, which would convince me to agree to a set minimum of work from her per week. I’m normally leery of promising availability like that because I’ve been burned in the past with the work not showing up and being short in my budget, but this client comes through 99% of the time. This week is an exception and I know it’s because of the holiday season.

Time for supper, then I have to clean up the kitchen, then I have to get a small transcription job out. I feel blessed that I’m not lacking for projects!

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Linguistic Breakthrough

Today marks day five (non-consecutive) of construction on the property. Work is suffering and I am getting fed up. However, I did get a hole though my office wall today for my booster cable, meaning I can shut the window and block out some noise, so I’m not as cranky as I was a few hours ago. 🙂

The man dealing with all the work just keeps speaking to me in rapid fire Spanish. One thing that has changed since I got here about six weeks ago is that I no longer go into “OMG, Spanish! Red alert! Tell them to slow down!” mode when this happens, which keeps me from hearing anything.

Instead, I now let the words wash over me and, guess what? I usually get the gist of what’s being said to me! If I really have no clue by the time they are done, then I ask for clarification. But nine times out of ten, I don’t need to get anywhere near the whole thing to understand what is being said.

For instance, this afternoon he knocked on the door, apologized for disturbing me, and then spoke for about a minute about something having to do with the wiring for the washing machine, its outlet (for which the word is caja, so no wonder the internet guy thought my Spanish is better than it is!), outside, and a wall in my office

The washing machine had been plugged into an extension cord that went through my office window and plugged into an outlet in here. I would say that I didn’t get 80% of what he said to me, but what  I understood was that he wanted to install an exterior outlet for the washing machine and needed to come into the office to make a hole and when he was done, I wouldn’t have the extension cord coming into the office anymore.

I brought him and his helper into the office, pointed to the extension cord, and told him that the cord was going outside to a new box, correct? Exactly.

He asked me to shut down my equipment while he got his drill ready. I ran for some towels to cover my desk!

It took about a half hour for them to do everything they needed to do, including drilling the hole for my booster cable and cleaning up all the dust.

When he was done, I got another big spiel from which I gathered that he was done in the office, still had five minutes of work to do outside and I’d have power back in about 10 minutes. Of that spiel, I’d say that I caught maybe 10% of the words, but that’s all I needed.

This feels like a linguistic breakthrough to me even though I’ve been doing the same thing when reading for years.  I really do need to find a conversation teacher to help me increase my vocabulary and correct my errors, but the leaps that I have made in oral comprehension in mere weeks is astonishing. My Spanish teachers were right. I didn’t need more private lessons. I needed to get immersed.

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Monday Morning Shopping in Mazatlán

I had an early morning for some reason, awake just past 5:00 (might have to do with the fact that this was my third uninterrupted night of sleep in a row, yay!). I read for an hour then got up to do some chores, including taking the trash out. My Mexican life is no more glamourous than my Canadian one! 🙂

Dale came by at 8:00 to pick me up so we could go run some errands in Mazatlán. We arrived as things were opening up, so there weren’t too many crowds and it was still cool out. Good call!

We’re both much more orientated now, so the only question as we left the panga was which road we were going to take to the Mercado, Zaragoza or Leandro Valle. The latter is a bit shorter but has big hills, so we opted for it to get some extra exercise!

Imagine having to go up these stairs to your house every day?!

Imagine having to go up these stairs to your house every day?!

Or up this spiral staircase?!

Or up this spiral staircase?!

I wanted to hit Waldo’s and the Mercado before going to Ley. Dale wanted a bank. I led her straight to the one Grant and I were directed to a couple of weeks ago. I never even noticed that it’s right across from the cathedral!

Dale didn’t like the bank because there were no English instructions in the ATM, but is glad to know there’s one closer than the HSBC she favours if she gets stuck. She had her translator, so there were no issues with her withdrawal. 🙂

When she was done, she mentioned that she’d like to find a bakery. Lo and behold, there was one right in front of us! She sheepishly said that she wanted a pastry right then. Breakfast was already well behind me, so I was on board with her plan!

We were both awed by the rows and rows and rows of pastries, each more beautiful than the next. She went for an Oreo crumb topped doughnut and I selected a butter croissant with a drizzle of icing sugar and some sliced almonds on top. 22.50 pesos for both. Dale said her doughnut was great and my croissant was perfect for me, just enough sweet for a treat, but not enough to be sickening.

Waldo’s was just a block up and across the street, so we finished up our goodies, then headed into the store. I wanted a plastic basket for my kitchen counter into which I could store spices and found a nice one that was quite cheap, as well as a few other things for the apartment. I picked up some Stanley-brand Velcro ties for my computer cables that are something like 10CAD for 8 in Canada and only 14 pesos (1CAD) in Mexico!!!

Next was the Mercado, across the street, where I knew I was going to spend mucho dinero. I wanted to come out with two Mexican sundresses and a hat. I’d been to the Mercado twice before and knew exactly which vendor had the dresses I wanted, but I had no idea on prices.

The vendor is immediately on the right when you come in through the entrance across from Waldo’s. I made like I wasn’t sure about checking out the wares so I didn’t look like I was already determined to buy.

I picked up the dress that I wanted, a peasant style, and held it up to show Dale, whose eyes widened. She said “That’ll look good on  you!” The clerk brought out a screen so I could change and showed me where the mirror is.

My first thought before I even saw the dress on me was, “It fits!” I just grabbed a dress of a rack and it was exactly my size! Unbelievable! I checked it out in the mirror and gasped. I felt like a princess. The dress was so pretty and the exact shape that best fits my figure. When I was larger, styles like these felt like a costume, I just couldn’t get away with ‘girly’ clothes, but now I can.

I asked how much in Spanish and the lady told me 500 pesos. Oof. I was expecting something like that, but it was still a lot of money and I wanted two!

I asked how much for two and was told 480 pesos each. What kind of deal is that?!

I told Dale that I was going to think about it and the clerk said that she could go as low as 430 pesos for each dress if I bought two or 450 pesos for just one.

The price was getting better and I thought I might be able to get it lower, so I started discussing colour. I’d tried on a bright blue dress that I wanted (Dale said it brings out the colour in my eyes) and I pretended to waffle back and forth between the blue and the purple. “400 pesos for the purple one,” I finally said. The clerk looked aghast and said, “No! 450 pesos for one dress. You can have both for 800 but one is 450 pesos.”

I’m sure that all the Mexican haggling experts reading this are going to laugh at my timidity, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going any lower at that point, so I agreed.

800 pesos is a huge sum of money, but I know I will wear the dresses a lot, not just on special occasions. They are made of heavy cotton and will last a long time. And perhaps most important, I feel so good in them!

My blue dress (I'm wearing the purple one and do not have a photographer handy!).

My blue dress (I’m wearing the purple one and do not have a photographer handy!).

Next, I wanted a hat. I’d shopped for hats before and haven’t been able find anybody willing to sell me one for what I wanted to pay (70 to 80 pesos) so I set my budget to 120 pesos.

One lady lured us into her shop waving hats and bags. I pointed to the hat she was holding and said I want something with a smaller brim. The next sized brim she held up was was still too big. She then pulled out the exact style of hat that I wanted and hadn’t yet seen at any other vendor!

I call it the ball cap style, because it basically has no brim in the back, but it does cover the ears. A wide brim all around is good for the back of the neck, but I’m a little hunched back and I prefer no brim back there. The hat was pretty and feminine, with a bow at the back, almost like a bonnet, and would look good with my dresses!

Unfortunately, all her hats were brightly coloured, though, and I wanted something more neutral. I pointed to a hat the colour I wanted, a light beige, and said that I wanted that hat style in that colour. And she had one! Finally, the perfect hat!

She wanted 150 pesos. I said I’d think about it. She said that I would be her first sale of the day, so 120 pesos. I countered with 100 and she thought about it then agreed. I doubt I could have gone any lower because the cheapest hat I’ve priced so far was 950 pesos, not a centavo less!

My hat.

My hat.

I was feeling pretty broke by this point, but I still needed groceries! I bought a mango (haven’t had one of those in months!) and a jicama at the market and Dale got a few things, too.

We were both ready to head to the Ley after. Back up Leandro Valle we went a couple of blocks and then a couple of blocks over to the Ley. We really are getting to know our way around!

Ley had almost everything on my list except coffee! We could only find instant. Unbelievable! Dale and I are going to Soriana or Mega or even Walmart on my next payday because we both take our coffee seriously. I looked into coffee shops that sell their own and they’re all in the Golden Zone and a million miles away. I guess Mexico exports all its coffee and Mexicans aren’t coffee snobs… I just opened up a bag I bought in the States that should last me a couple of weeks, but my coffee situation is going to get dire fast!

I came out of Ley after spending about 330 pesos. The most expensive thing I bought was the cheese, about 110 pesos worth (which would be about 30CAD worth back home…). I also bought Kikkoman soy sauce. Last time I bought some in Canada, I paid something like $10 for two on sale. I paid 450 pesos for one bottle here. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I should stock up on soy sauce in Mexico before going home!

Our shopping done, Dale and I arranged all our bags to make them more comfortable to carry and decided that we could walk rather than take a pulmonía to the panga.

We were just at the corner of Leandro Valle and Emilio Barragán when a tope (speed bump) that was the exact colour as the pavement and my shoes attacked me! I went down pretty hard, but managed to catch myself enough that I didn’t get my full weight on my knees. I scraped my right shin pretty badly but didn’t even skin the palms of my hands. My shopping was fine. I’m no longer the gal who hit a palm tree with her truck her first night here, but now the girl who tripped on a tope!

I was just glad I fell on a street, not while getting into the panga! I had no trouble getting myself and my shopping into the boat gracefully, thank goodness!

By the time Dale and I got back to Isla, it wasn’t even 11:00 a.m.! We were surprised! It was getting HOT and we were ready to get home. I had work to do, but, surprise, the power and internet at home were out for a few hours because of work being done to the house. The internet cafés don’t have power outlets, so forget working from there. Thankfully, my deadlines aren’t too pressing and I can make up the work later.

Lunch was guacamole and chips, quick and easy. I bought a different kind of avocado today, much bigger than that Haas ones, with a smooth light green skin and more expensive than the Haas variety. It wasn’t great, more water than creamy. It was fine with lots of onions, salt, and lime juice (forgot the jalapeños!), but I’m glad I only got the one.

Large smooth skinned avocado.

Large smooth skinned avocado.

The flesh and pit are lighter and the flesh is watery.

The flesh and pit are lighter and the flesh is watery.