I have now been sleeping in my hammock for a full week and do not anticipate going back to a European bed any time in the near future. The Hammock Experiment has proven itself to be an immense success — I have a solid week of sleep behind me with no night being less than an 8 out of 10, I haven’t needed a nap in a week, my productivity is through the roof, and I’m generally feeling great overall, have fewer aches, and have even noticed an improvement in my posture!

Getting out of the hammock was always surprisingly easy. Getting in and comfortable is taking less effort every night and having to get back out to do something I forgot or attend to an odd noise, etc., and then resettle isn’t as much of production as it was. I am also now able to quickly fall asleep on my back in nearly the position I wake up in.

Moving to Mexico continues to be prove itself to be a cure-all for all my woes! 🙂

So if anyone is actually reading my posts, they will remember that this day last week found me perky enough to spend the morning at the neighbourhood market, where I found a dress I loved and ordered more to pick up today.

As a bit of background, I’m having trouble with my wardrobe here because I have suddenly started to perspire in ways that I never have in my life. Turns out, that’s my body acclimating! So anything cotton is incredibly uncomfortable — I arrive soaked to my destination, which is usually air conditioned, meaning that I freeze. I also go through multiple changes of clothes in a day to stay dry. Strangely enough, polyester fabrics have proven perfect for this climate: they might not breathe, but they dry super fast, likely why such fabric is so prevalent in clothing here.

My smocked bodice dresses from Maz are almost perfect for here. As a refresher, here’s one of those:

The problem with it is that it’s not modest enough for Mérida (bare shoulders) and I also don’t want to show that much skin under this brutal sun. So I’ve been looking for dresses just like that but with a bit of a sleeve.

I came home with this beauty last week. Oh my, it is so pretty! (You can click on the dress pictures to embiggen them and see more details!)

Today, the lady had a pile for me to sort through. She’d brought an assortment of colours and patterns. I picked out the best four and explained what I liked and didn’t like about each dress so that she could bring me an even better assortment next week as I want at least another four!

This is the first one I honed in on today. The darker tone makes it a bit dressier for going out in the evenings.

This was an obvious must-have! I love the rich pattern and colours.

My third choice would have been rated higher had it not had red in it (I was quickly told, “Think of it as wine-coloured!” LOL):

I like the colours and pattern of the last one I picked, but the fabric is different and a little thinner so I hemmed and hawed until the vendor told me she’d give me $20 off if I bought all four. That doesn’t sound like much of a deal, but the dresses are only $160 each! The fabric alone is worth at least $60. So I didn’t want to drive too hard of a bargain.

The rest of the dresses were all white or cream-based, which I don’t like. Just doesn’t work with my skin tone and stains too easily. They said they will have more next week in colours I like so we shall see.

A closet full of these dresses solves so many problems. They are inexpensive enough that I can wear the ones I don’t like as much around the house and if they get stained or torn from doggie claws, no big deal. They look dressy enough that I can wear one to run errands and still look nice enough to go to a higher-end restaurant before. They are a breeze to clean. They don’t show sweat stains. They are comfortable. They can accommodate both my summer (thicker — I walk less) and winter (thinner — I walk tons) body. I really got used to wearing dresses in Maz after years of doing a skirt and top combo and I just love the ease of having to grab only one thing.

There’s just one teeny little problem. Can you guess what it is? Hint, I need to bring them to the fabric store and then find myself a seamstress!

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Yay, I made it out to Dzityá today to attend the annual Feria Artesanal Tunich (Tunich Craft Fair). Of course, being a terrible blogger, I have no photos of the fair to show you. 🙂 It was a bit of a last minute thing with M as this afternoon ended up working for both of us. We headed out around 5:00. Dzityá is just to the northwest of Mérida, so very easy and quick to get to from my house.

This fair is an annual event that showcases local artisans and ones from other parts of Mexico, including Puebla and Michoacan. There was tons of food, insanely loud music, and rides for kids, all set within a very neat and cute little “comisario” of Mérida, which I believe means that it is technically part of the city. Don’t hold me to that, though.

There were a lot of very lovely things for sale, some just little tchotchkes you’d find in any gift store, but also lots of unique pieces. Yucatecan embroidery was definitely showcased.

My first purchase was a pair of earrings made with dried grass:

One stand was just selling mole (“chocolate sauce”) from Puebla, all of which you could all sample. I couldn’t resist a sesame mole for just $80. I will get a lot of meals from that!

My final purchase was the most important, a “cover” into which to pack my hammock to wash it in a washing machine!

This came with quite the course on how to tie the hammock into the cover to keep it from tangling.

There are detailed instructions, but the demonstration really helped!

The hammock needs to be washed at least once a week, the way bedsheets would need to be. The seller pointed out that since the hammock is safe in the case, it can be washed with other things, saving water and power. So I can throw it in with my sheets.

At one point, I decided to pick up a sorbet and chose a flavour the name of which I don’t remember and which came with chile pieces in it. It was both incredibly refreshing and unbelievably spicy — it tasted like Mexico. 🙂

M was eventually ready for dinner. I wasn’t keen on anything in particular since I’d had a big and late lunch. So when he spotted tamales, that worked for me. Can you believe I’ve never had a tamal in my whole time living in Mexico???!!!

The ones I saw up north were cooked in corn husks, but I believe these were wrapped in banana leaves:

It really doesn’t look like much, but it was quite tasty. The base was a gloppy mess of steamed masa and there was some shredded meat over top with tomato sauce. I found it a bit bland so I added that very hot green sauce you can see in the little glass above. My verdict was that the tamal was a good meal, but it’s definitely not the amazing magical dish that I’ve heard described by so many Mexicans. I know, I know, I need to try more! With our tamal, we each had a panucho, which is just like a salbut, but the tortilla is spread thinly with beans. I didn’t get a picture of this, but here is a picture of a salbut that I had a while back and, really, it’s identical, minus the beans that you wouldn’t see under the lettuce anyway:

I always forget how much I love salbutes and panuchos!

After dinner, we walked around a bit more and then headed back into Mérida so I wouldn’t have to drive after dark.

After M left, I went back to my  office and my plan to go back to work was thwarted by a dumb bat who came into my office and knocked itself out on my ceiling fan, poor thing!

I used a piece of cardboard to coax it towards the door and it finally caught a whiff of free air and took off into the night. Hope you’re okay, little fellow!

What a bizarre and very full day it’s been! I’m racing a Friday deadline so I’d better put in a really full day tomorrow!

Wow, I can’t believe I’m four nights into my week-long sleeping in a hammock experiment!

Perfectly hung! That lump is my sheet, all tucked away neatly. 🙂

I am an extraordinarily poor sleeper and have been keeping track of my sleep for years. An average night for me is 5 out of 10 (1 being the worst, 10 being the best). If I score a 6 or 7, it’s worth a celebration, but a 3-4 is more common and I get way too many 2s. Well…

First night in the hammock was a solid 9/10.

Second night was a 10/10. I was on fire the next day!

Third night was a 8.5/10, just because I’d slept so much the night before that I woke up waaaay too early.

Fourth night (last night) was a 9/10.

These numbers are amazing.

I pretty much hate the going to bed in the hammock part. I can’t easily get comfortable to read but I don’t want to read in a chair first because a part of my winding down process is getting all comfy in bed and then reading until I get sleepy. If I have to do the hammock jig-a-jig at the point where I’m getting sleepy, then that can set back my falling asleep time as the getting comfy process wakes me up.

Falling asleep in the hammock also isn’t easy. I try to get comfortable on my back, but then my body doesn’t know that it’s time to sleep for the whole night. So I have to find a position on my side that is comfortable.

But then, when I find that sweet spot, that’s it. I lose consciousness and I float off into the best part of sleeping in a hammock.

The best part of sleeping in a hammock? Waking up in the absolute most perfect position to be floating freely and comfortably, free of any aches and pains, and with seven to nine hours of truly restorative sleep behind me. Mornings in the hammock are the best.

I’ve been getting up earlier than I have been for months despite going to bed at the same time, have an incredible amount of get-up-and-go in the mornings, haven’t needed a nap, am way more productive at work, and have started to eat better. That’s how important a good night of sleep is to one’s health!

One additional benefit of sleeping in the hammock that is definitely part of how soundly I’m sleeping is that not using a pillow, not moving around so much, and not overheating means that I don’t lose my sleep mask during the night. So I’m not woken up by the sun. But the hammock gets one hundred percent of the credit for keeping me asleep to the point where I would be woken up by the sun if I didn’t have my sleep mask on.

So I’m definitely finishing off the week. Do I believe at this point that I could sleep in a hammock forever? I really don’t know, but I think that once I figure out the bedtime routine, it’ll be much easier and I’ll be more open to continuing the experiment long-term.

(Another can’t believe it moment: I’m at the five-month anniversary of adopting Bonita!).

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