Sinaloa

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Saturday Night in Mazatlán

Dale and I went back to Macaws tonight to hear Rob do his annual holiday singalong before leaving for a short vacation. It was my first time going to Mazatlán on a Saturday night and the atmosphere was completely different, even on Isla, with lots of traffic and noise. Because every street crossing took time, it felt like it took forever to get to Macaws.

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I saw this car and immediately thought “this guy learned to park in Montreal”. Well guess, what? That’s a Quebec plate on the back of the car. LOL!!!

We arrived around 6:45. We weren’t planning to eat, so we hadn’t made a reservation.  The place was packed, the dinner crowd not having thinned out, and we were told to sit in the overflow dining room area away from the action.

The owner of the place came to check on us and I said we wanted beers. He replied that he was down a waiter, but someone would be with us eventually. Dale suggested that we go down to the bar to get our drinks and he said that it was preferable for us to stay at the table and wait for the server.

Well, an hour later, after watching the servers help everyone around us but not even acknowledge our presence,  I asked Dale if she would be willing to go. I had absolutely no desire to spend any money there by that point. If I have to flag down a server to get business, then I’m not interested. And this wasn’t a ‘you’re in Mexico’ kind of service issue; the owners are Gringos who serve Gringos and should know better. Dale and I are not going back to Macaws on a weekend.

I’d arrived in Maz in a bit of a grumpy mood from yet another interrupted work day and I was very grumpy when we left, but tried to be tolerable so as to not ruin Dale’s night. Frankly, I just wanted to go home, but I bit my tongue since Dale wasn’t ready to go yet. We walked around the Plazuela Machado for a bit and, feeling peckish, I casually checked out the various restaurant menus until I spotted one that had nachos, Dale’s Kryptonite.

She was quick to agree to split an order and then the question was which restaurant did the sign refer to?! There are a whole bunch of restaurants lining each side of the Plazuela with little distinction between them. We didn’t have to wait long, a cheerful waiter running up to us, pointing to the menu and then a table. And what a lovely table it was, right in the heart of all the action in the middle of a closed off street in front of wonderful live music! My grumpy mood vanished quickly!

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View from our table (my back is to the restaurant and I am facing the Plazuela Machado). The music was lovely and not too loud so we could still gab.

We asked for Pacificos, but they didn’t have any on the menu (!) so we went with Tecate. We ordered the plain nachos and the server suggested we get guacamole, too. Oh, why not?! The restaurant was Beach Burger and I am keeping it in mind for a lunch spot in Centro because it has better prices than the places I’ve been to on Olas Altas.

The guacamole was tasty, but not nearly as good as mine, interestingly enough, since I’ve never had a formal lesson in making the sauce. This one relied on avocados and tomatoes for flavour, while I like red onion, lime juice, and salt in mine. It was still pretty dang tasty with the tortilla chips!

There was also tolerably spicy pico de gallo and this other sauce that made Dale and me gasp. Dale was so impressed she flagged down the waiter to ask what the heck it was, which turned out to be essentially a reduction of tomato, onion, and garlic with, I think, cilantro. It was fantastic with the nachos.

I thought the nachos would be just cheese and chips, but nope. There was also a layer of yummy refried beans, which elevated them from a snack to a meal in my book.

We cleaned up every dish, finishing up the sauces with our spoons! I’ve been pretty good about not over doing the tortilla chips since I got here, but this was definitely a very occasional indulgence type of meal! We were stuffed by the time we were done!

Our server was absolutely perfect, so cheerful and flirty, offering exactly the kind of service I needed tonight. Service at Macaws last time wasn’t great either. I prefer to go to places where I feel my business is appreciated.

The bill came to 140 pesos and Dale had me work out the money. We left a 30 peso tip, so that wound up being 85 pesos each, and that included beer! Really, a splurge in Mexico isn’t much.

We were both tuckered out and ready to go home after, so we went to the corner and actually had to wait a few minutes for a pulmonía. I asked for the price and was told 80 pesos! I said that we were used to paying at most 50. He said it was Saturday, but he was willing to go down to 70. Dale hemmed and hawed, so he said fine, 60. I have to keep reminding myself that 10 pesos is just 85 cents (ish), not worth making a huge fuss over, and agreed.

It had been a cool night and it was pretty dang cold sitting in that pulmonía. I was glad to have worn a light sweater over my dress and Dale was grateful for her coat. The panga trip was more pleasant than expected, though. And we saw a comet just before the boat arrived on the Maz side!

I’ve noticed something interesting about riding the panga. If I am in a skirt or dress, I get offered a hand 100% of the time exiting and entering the boat. If I’m in pants, I get offered a hand about 50% of the time…

It wound up being a fun night in Mazatlán, even though it didn’t start that way. I’m glad that I forced myself to shift my mood and allowed myself to have a good time in the end. Dale and I discovered a new place that’s more our style (we’re both ready to swear off any place oriented at Gringos…), we got to listen to some really good live music (not that Rob isn’t good!), and we came home with a belly full of yummy food without having spent much money. Life in Mexico continues to be pretty dang good!

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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.