(Post 38 of 193. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)
As always, spot the mistake because I don’t know how to edit videos. 😆
Mexico
A Dental Emergency of Elastic Proportions
(Post 37 of 193. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)
This weekend, two ligatures on one of the top brackets of my braces failed — those are the often colourful elastics that hold the wire in place. This caused the wire to move horizontally. The dentist is closed on the weekends, so I used a pair of tweezers to gently move the wire back and then secured it with wax. I called the office first thing yesterday (Monday) morning and the soonest they could take me was today at 10:30AM. This morning, as I was preparing to go out, a third ligature failed, this time on the bottom. Great timing!
I didn’t really want to be one of those people out and about during the apocalypse, but we’re only “just” entering phase two in Mérida (local contamination) and I knew we were counting down the days to being able to go about our lives “normally.” I had a legitimate reason to go out, so I made a list of all my errands and figured out how to do them all in the same general area so I would limit my use of Ubers and keep my movements contained.
Mérida was almost like a ghost town. I know a lot of people have said that they’ve never seen anything like this in their life. I have — the 1998 Ice Storm, during which there were curfews and the army patrolled the streets. Thankfully, we don’t yet here have the kinds of shortages that we had then that led to temples in Israel sending us candles!
My dentist’s office was clearly taking extra precautions, but was operating as normal. I was surprised that my dentist himself attended to me (rather than the assistant who does most of the work). He opted to change all my ligatures as I seemed to have had a bad batch. There was no charge for this visit!!! He believes he will be open on April 14th, my next appointment, but I think he’s being super optimistic. We shall see… I’ve been taking my own impressions of my teeth since I started this process and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude at how quickly I’m seeing positive progress. I had a front tooth that was not only really sticking out, but much longer than its neighbours. Now, it is laterally even with them and has gone back up enough to be almost equal with the other front tooth. It is still much longer than the tooth to the side of it, but that doesn’t bother me much. I thought I was going to come out of this “needing” veneers, but the braces are providing results I wasn’t expecting at all as I didn’t know they can move teeth upwards and downwards as well as sideways and front to back.
After my appointment, I walked to Altabrisa mall as both of my banks are there side by side. To get into the mall, I had to have my temperature taken and then sanitize my hands and my shoes (by wiping them on a mat soaked in some sort of solution). The mall was empty, with most businesses closed. I’ve heard reports of some folks having a hard time getting money out of ATMs, but I’ve never experienced that and had no trouble at either HSBC or Scotiabank.
Then, because I was sticking to one area, I went to the Soriana grocery store, even though I don’t like shopping there and its prices are much higher than Superama. The store was surprisingly well-stocked (something it rarely is even at the best of times). Check-out was slow because everyone had to bag their own groceries, but all the employees were doing their best to make things feel normal.
My final stop today was an Oxxo. I deposited two days’ pay onto my cleaner’s debit card to cover this week (she had actually wanted to come today, but her pueblo is now in lockdown) and the next. My hope is to be able to support her until she can come back to clean for me, but I have to make Bast’s family my first priority, so we’ll see. It’ll really depend on how my own income is over these next few weeks. Right now, I only have one client at work and no idea if my current receivables will be paid in a timely manner.
Now, I am firmly in stay at home mode. Even without work, I always have plenty to do — I have to do my own cleaning again, of course, but I also have Spanish studies; various art projects; very full Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and YouTube queues; exercise equipment; and, of course, a stocked pantry. I’m so restauranted out from Oaxaca that I’m eagerly cooking. The other night, I made this really good soba (buckwheat) noodle and veggie stir-fry in a spicy chili sauce topped with soy and ginger-marinated pork loin.
Life in a Dystopia
(Post 36 of 193. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr. The family needs help now more than ever as they are locked down, all have vulnerable immune systems, and do not have the means to stock up.)
Phew. What strange times we live in…
Everything seems under control in Yucatán at this time. I frankly feel much safer here in Mérida than I would in Canada. So far, large gatherings have been banned and people are advised to self-isolate, but the city is still functioning. There is a request that we support small businesses, especially restaurants, by ordering in, so I’m trying to do my patriotic duty of eating the worth of the GDP of a small country in tacos. 🙂
I thought that I would get ill after coming home from Oaxaca because of how little sleep I got during that week. But at four days home, I’m absolutely fine. So tomorrow or Tuesday, I am going to venture out to get cash, the groceries that were not delivered with my last order, and to have my braces checked because I’m having an issue with the top wire. That should all make it possible for me to truly hunker down if we get the order to do that.
My work/income situation is worrisome, but I’m getting small jobs steadily so far. Most of my clients are getting set up to work remotely, so everything should pick up after that if all hell doesn’t break completely loose in the U.S. over the next few weeks…
I hope my readers are well and safe wherever they are. Please drop a sign of life, saying where you are and if you are self-isolating.
Making sure I get my vitamin C! These green oranges are Valencias, are super inexpensive compared to the bright orange oranges you see from Florida, and, frankly, make better and sweeter juice. I alternate between orange and grapefruit juice. I got a great deal on my juicer from an expat who was leaving and use it at least once a week. It’s a bit small for juicing grapefruits, but I make it work.
Oaxaca Trip Table of Contents
(Post 35 of 193. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)
My trip to Oaxaca couldn’t have gone better or been more wonderful in the current economic and world context. I’m so glad I squeezed it in before everything shut down!
Oaxaca was as fabulous as everyone told me it would be. I’ve got too much “Mexico experience” to see it through the rose-coloured glasses of so many friends who rave about it, but it’s normal to get a bit jaded the longer you are somewhere. I think it’s the difference of looking at a city through the eyes of a tourist versus someone considering residency there.
I identified things that I preferred to Mérida and things that are better in Mérida. I’m finally starting to figure out what’s not working for me in Mérida, what I could fix without leaving, and what are deal breakers that pretty much confirm that I won’t be here long-term. That is way more than I have the energy to go into at this time, but since I owe so many posts, you can be sure I’ll get back to this topic. 🙂
Since the last week was a bombardment of posts, here’s the table of contents for the trip. Remember that if you start at the beginning, you can link on the link at the bottom right of the post to go to the next one.
I Can Be As Petty and Ridiculous as Any Airline!
A Typical Comida Corrida/Menú del DÃa in Oaxaca
Thursday Afternoon/Evening in Oaxaca
Saturday Morning at Monte Albán
Saturday at Arrazola, Home of Alebrijes
Saturday Afternoon in Cuilapan de Guerrero
Saturday Afternoon at Coyotepec (Bonus Evening Taco Review)
A Change of Plans and Sunday Morning at Santo Domingo
Chapulines and Breakfast at Mercado del 20 de noviembre
Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños (Oaxacan Painters Museum)
In Search of Dinner Early on a Sunday Night in Oaxaca
Monday Morning at Teotitlán del Valle
Monday Afternoon at a MezcalerÃa (and Lunch)
Monday Afternoon at Hierve el agua
My Last Day in Oaxaca and the Journey Home
(Post 34 of 193. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)
My final day in Oaxaca, I had some work to do and I was rather exhausted and foot sore, so I stuck pretty close to the apartment. Late morning, I did go out to the Mercado de la Merced to get something quick to-go for breakfast, as well as some juice.
This market is impeccable, very similar in ambience to my market in Chuburná, just bigger. The first lady who said hi to me in the foodcourt got an order for a torta with cecina.
An Uber driver in Mérida originally from Oaxaca had warned me not to eat at market stalls and to instead have meals at restaurants. I finally understood what he meant — a pretty basic torta plus a juice cost me 55 pesos, what I paid for a two-course breakfast Friday morning! Still not an expensive breakfast by any means, and I was glad to take my food home, but it just goes to show where value is in dining out in Oaxaca.
For lunch, I had to go try out El Morocco, which my friends had raved out. Oh… The ambiance was like eating at Tea for Two in Sarajevo.
I ordered the menú del dÃa First up was a basket of not very good bread and a glass of cantaloupe water!
Next up was a beet, mango, and mint salad. OMG. This was a culinary genius-level entrée. Even if the rest of my meal wasn’t very good, there was the full value of my meal right there. So, so, so good.
The main was chicken and veggies over couscous. The ratio of topping to couscous was a bit off and there was way too much parsley, but this was absolutely delicious.
I thought this was going to be super hot sauce, but had just the right amount of heat for me. The meat and veg had plenty of flavour on their own (lots of cumin, yum!), but this sauce mixed into the couscous really elevated it.
Dessert was a disappointing pretty stale cake with raisins and orange flavour — must be very good fresh, but wasn’t great as it was dry. Still plenty good enough to finish, though. 🙂
I returned to the apartment to do more work and to start packing. Late evening, I was hungry again and decided to try a pizza and pasta place right around the corner from the apartment.
I finally got to try some local beer — this had citrus undertones that were perfect with a pizza.
Garlic sauce, smoky spicy sauce, and chimichurri.
The sauce, cheese, and super fresh tomatoes were great — like the pizza I got used to in Europe. The crust was a bit meh, but once I figured out the perfect ratio of sauces to make one savoury dipping sauce, it became a great vehicle for all those flavours.
I got in, finished packing, and went to bed early for a 5:45 wake-up time. OF COURSE this wound up being the only night the whole week that the building was loud. I pretty much just dozed and was up at 5:40. I did the last little bits of packing and tidying up, dressed, and called a taxi. I had been a little concerned that it wasn’t possible to call a cab ahead of time and very worried that I wouldn’t get one quickly, hence why I was trying that early for an 8:30 flight at an airport about 15 minutes away. There are many cab companies in Oaxaca and most are poorly rated, so I just called the first one in the list. They got a cab out to me so fast that I wasn’t even downstairs by the time the driver was honking for me! So I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
The airport is where I finally saw for the first time since all this coronavirus mess hit how the world had changed while I was away. For the first time ever, I was not allowed to travel on my Mexican residency card. Thank goodness I always travel with my passport, even in Canada!. In fact, it was like the lady at baggage check-in had never seen that card. She asked me when I had last entered Mexico from Canada, and when I said about 2.5 years, she was taken aback and said “That might be a problem.” I pointed out that the card, good through this time next year, is proof that I’m here legally. She then asked if I was continuing on to Canada, because there are no international flights out of Mérida at this time, and I told her that Mérida is home. She finally agreed to check me in.
The next stop before security was a brief interview to check my health status. That was fine. Security was easy and I didn’t set off the metal detector for once, but my head was “wanded” because I wear a scarf. I offered to remove it (what Canadian airport security prefers), but he told me that would not be necessary.
I then had plenty of time before my flight to get a coffee and some yogurt and get part of a job done. We boarded and left on time, and I slept the first half of the trip. The second half was really sad — there were new parents in front of me on their first flight and they were not prepared for their baby having a problem with her ears. So the poor child was wailing and wailing and wailing. I’ve had two flights like that in my life, one as a child and one as an adult, and my heart broke for her. Someone finally found a lollipop at the bottom of her purse and offered it to the parents. It took about a minute for sucking on it to work so that the baby’s ears popped. After that, she fell into an exhausted sleep. This was a short flight, so I can’t imagine it took that long from the first wails to resolution, but it sure felt like it. So glad it all resolved.
We arrived in Mérida on time at about 10AM. I collected my luggage and headed out to get a cab. The driver looked a bit panicked when I told him we were heading into the labyrinthian streets of Chuburná, a reaction I get all the time, but he followed my instructions and we got home in record time.
I was so happy to see Bonita! She wasn’t quite as happy to see me as I’d expected, but by the time I’d unpacked and crashed, I understood why — she was exhausted too! After we both got in a nap, she was back to being my little shadow. 🙂
Thus ends my amazing week in Oaxaca. I will have one final sum-up post with a table of contents!