Yucatan

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A Lot of Little Things Happened Today

Today started with initial contact with a potential new client. Business is officially back to normal! 🙂

But, again, I need a proper office. I had a long typing day yesterday and am paying for it in pain. But there is hope on the horizon. I posted a wanted ad for some office furniture and someone who just bought a furnished house and currently has doubles and triples of a lot of things responded. She’s putting together a price for me for my dream desk, a chair that will tide me over, a few bookcases, and the exact type of armchair and ottoman combo I was hoping to find for my house! She knows my budget, so let’s hope I can pay for it all!

It’s been a week since I went to INM in Progreso, so I checked the status of my application this morning and nothing had changed. But when I looked back in the afternoon, there was an update! I was told things move very quickly after that first update, so I kept checking back. Well, I can go back to immigration tomorrow to give them photos for my card and to get fingerprinted. This is really happening!

Monday is curry night in Chelem thanks to the Chelem Curry Club. Two British expats nearby make curry for takeaway on Monday nights! I had it last week and it was fantastic, so I put in an order for tonight to pick up at 5:30. They are just a few blocks away, so I can walk.

Here’s my filthy Moya who needs a good bath inside and out. I park her outside the compound because dealing with the gate and the dog is way too much.

Looking down my street:

Turning towards the beach. Can you see how turquoise the ocean is?

This is Calle 17 or the Beach Road. I can walk down it all the way into Chelem.

Monday night curry is a set menu for just $150. This is what you get, a container full of the main and sides, plus a piece of hot and buttery garlic naan.

Going clockwise from the bottom right:

-chicken Mumbai (creamy, coconutty chicken curry)

-served with pilau rice (ie. cooked in turmeric)

-onion bhajia (like a fritter) with mint yogurt

-saag paneer (spinach with cheese)

“all smeared with our own mango chutney and garnished with fresh cilantro”

Last week was similar, except I had a samosa-type thing instead of the bhajia and the chicken had a tikka masala sauce.

This meal is a real bargain at $150. It’s just a bit too much for one meal, but not quite enough for two. I would pay $15 to $20 in Canada for this meal and feel that I got my money’s worth, but it would be an occasional treat. At about $10, it’s something I plan to do every Monday that it’s offered. That’ll be next Monday, but then there will be a hiatus for three weeks. I am really impressed, to be honest. You can tell this food is made by Brits who are passionate about their curry!

After dinner, I played with the dog for a bit since he was being a brat, which I know means that he just wanted some attention. I wore him out! Now, I have to get back to work since I’m going to immigration tomorrow. I’m regretting take it so slow this morning since I’ll now be slammed tomorrow! But, hey, this really does beat the famine days! 🙂

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Mexican Spanish Peculiarities: Tomate and Jitomate

My first year in Mexico, I never questioned the difference between “tomate” and “jitomate” when it came to the red sphere of deliciousness, the tomato. Everyone knew what I meant when I said tomate and I understood jitomate if I saw it in a recipe.

Last night, my curiosity finally overtook me and I did some research. I was surprised by what I discovered.

In most of the Spanish-speaking world and about half of Mexico (northern and Baja), this is a tomate:

Well, in the other half (central and southern), that fruit above is a jitomate and this is a tomate:

Got that? In a very small part of the Spanish-speaking world, a red tomato is a jitomate and a green tomato is a tomate.

I found a map that shows which Mexican states use only tomate (they include Sinaloa) and which use tomate and jitomate (they include Yucatån). Follow that link to learn more about the difference between tomate and jitomate.

Fun fact: both tomate and jitomate come from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word xiltomatl. I am learning that just as Canadian English has incorporated Native American words, so has Mexican Spanish. I expect to start picking up Maya and Maya-infused Spanish now that I live in Yucatån!

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First Solo Run to Progreso

I really needed groceries today and if I was going out, I figured I might as well go to Progreso and check out the Soriana there as well as Waldo’s for a few household things I’m missing. It’s a pretty quick and easy drive into Progreso from here, but I have to say I couldn’t believe how much busier Chelem was today than it was on Friday at the same time! I almost changed my plans since there was so much activity, but, again, I really needed groceries beyond what I could get at Willy’s!

I dropped the truck at Soriana and walked the kilometre up the road to Calle 27 to the Waldo’s. This lighthouse (?) was the most interesting thing I passed.

Right at the corner of Calle was a man selling coconut ice cream, so I treated myself to a big one ($20) and then just wandered down Calle 27 past the Waldo’s while I enjoyed it. There is a cinema right by the Waldo’s that I’ll need to check out.

Waldo’s had no surprises. Most of the things I wanted that they had were of too poor quality for a permanent purchase, but I was happy to pick up soap, shampoo, and four colourful plastic tumblers for just $30 when I’d budgeted $20 for two.

I then headed back to Soriana and was not impressed by it at all. It’s very small and pitiful. I’ll have to check out the “Aki” store next time. The Aki I went to in MĂ©rida last February was definitely better than the average Soriana. My love affair with Soriana appears to be coming to an end. When the stores are good, they’re great, but they’re often so mediocre.

At any rate, I got some groceries and then decided to go back to Bodega AurrerĂĄ, which is literally across the street. There, I was able to pick up two pretty plates and bowls, a good big metal colander, and a good cheese grater, plus a cutting board and a water pump.

The lighting in here isn’t good, but you’ll just have to trust me that the coral and blue dishes look smashing together and much more vibrant in real life. 🙂 I can cut directly on the counter (as well as set down hot pots), but I figured a cutting board would help keep me containerised for easier sanitation purposes. I love its pretty pink colour. It’s so easy to find colourful things in Mexico, and often in many hues and shades, so you can get nice dark roses and corals instead of just baby and hot pink!

I came in, put everything away, played with the dog, and had a swim. Time to get back to work. I am going to finish late tonight because of my excursion!

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My Third Mexican Home

Before I get to shots of the house, here are some photos I took last night when we went to an expat-owned Tex-Mex restaurant in Chelem, Lizard Joe’s. I had a very good burger with ho-hum fries; nothing worth photographing.

View from the rear of the restaurant:

Sunset as we came out:

Love the colour of this house!

So my hosts left this morning and it was time to get some more boxes out of my suite and into the kitchen! I was left with tons of empty cabinet space, so I knew I could unpack fully. I washed so many dishes today! Everything was gross from nearly a year of disuse.

Once everything was put away, I was able to take some photographs.

So here’s the compound as viewed from inside the gate. Huge pebble yard with the house at the back.

To my right is a laundry area. Need to teach the dog to not pull stuff off the line and shred it! No important casualties so far, but I have to be vigilant!

Here is the courtyard with the pool. It is very much part of the interior space since you can’t go between most of the rooms from indoors.

You can see the patio door to my unit here and opposite is a bathroom. In the far left corner is the other guest suite and across from that is a bodega (storage room) with laundry.

Looking back to the yard. I am in charge of taking care of the pool. It sounds easy enough even if there is quite a bit to do. It’ll be worth it! I really enjoyed my swim this afternoon after all that hard work!

If you go into that second set of patio doors in the picture above, you walk into the kitchen. All set up as my own! 🙂

The door at the back leads into another bodega. To the immediate left of the kitchen (open plan, L shape), is the main house’s living room, the master bathroom, and the master bedroom. I will not be using those spaces and don’t feel they should be shared.

I labeled all the doors I’m using so I know where my stuff is. 🙂

I was left lots of space in the bodega/pantry at the back of the kitchen. My neighbour Caroline sent me off with several tight fitting mason jars for storage. She’s been hankering at me for years to take them, but I didn’t have enough space. I knew they would be perfect for this climate and fit as many into the truck as I could. I wish I had more. I was grateful to have a dishwasher here to wash them all, but was told that it is preferred that I not use the dishwasher since dirty dishes sitting in it will attract pests.

Now, we’ll go next door to my suite. It’s still a huge mess and I felt like taking pictures of the empty one next door and flipping them, but anyway. 🙂 So I have a full set of bedroom furniture and a nice couch with a coffee table in the front of the suite. That’s my table to the left with my tablecloth that just happens to match the colour palette. The plan is to use that as my desk soon as I get a decent computer chair. In the meantime, I’m set up in the kitchen, which is not going to work because it’s way too loud next to the fridge. If I luck out and find a cheap desk as well, the table will come down and I’ll set up the desk.

The biggest fault with this room is the three huge skylights right by the bed that I could only cover up by going onto the roof. I’ve tried three times before in my life to sleep with a sleep mask and failed, but I really have no choice here.

But I keep pulling the mask off in the middle of the night, so I have a backup that I can easily reach!

I love the couch. So comfy. Particularly like the chaise longue part for stretching out. Yes, that’s my tablecloth from Maz covering the table. I love the combo of blue and orange so why not?!

Now, into the bathroom. OMG Yes, this is where I have to shower for the next six months. Do try to be sympathetic. 😉 And, yes, those are real plants!

I was left with a huge pile of super luxurious towels, but I prefer to use my own things. So now that my towels are clean and dry, I’ll wash those of my hosts and put them away. Using my own things makes me feel more at home and I’m also not worried about ruining someone else’s belongings.

So that’s where I’m living this summer! The house is very much like an RV with its complex power and water systems. I would be overwhelmed if I did not have the knowledge gained from RVing!

My hosts are very keen to keep the outside separate from the inside so as to not have all the problems that come with keeping a home in this climate, like dust coming in from open windows and mould growing. So the doors and few windows are shut tight at all times and the AC has to run 24/7 (but pretty high — I think 27C will be the sweet spot). To avoid massive power bills, they have 16 solar panels on the roof and I believe each is about 250W. The system has been running for about two months now and they are managing so far to make just a bit more power than they are consuming. There is no battery system. Anything that doesn’t get used returns to CFE (power company) and earns them a credit for cloudy days when they don’t generate as much. I’ve been asked to keep track daily of my usage and adjust accordingly.

There is city water, but it apparently runs dry frequently. So then, I have to switch over to a well. The city water is on a water softener system and clean enough to use for washing produce, but it tastes terrible (and salty) so we use bottled water for cleaning teeth and drinking. Personally, whenever I end up buying a home in Mexico, I will put in a whole house filtration system and do away with bottled water altogether. But with the two water sources here and good potable water being so cheap and easy to access in Mexico (0.75CAD for 5 gallons, versus about 3CAD in Canada), I can understand why there is no filter in place here.

My priority at this point is a proper office setup. I can’t work from the couch here because even with the AC running, a laptop on the lap is way too hot, plus I’m frankly DONE with typing on the laptop keyboard and miss my external professional keyboard. I’ll go to Office Max and Office Depot in MĂ©rida on Monday and see what I can find for a chair. Maybe I’ll luck out like I did with my last one (which I’m bitterly regretting not bringing) and find a demonstration model for cheap…

Other than that, I just want to get back into a “normal” routine so I can remind myself that I’m not on vacation despite being in paradise. I’ll have time to explore when the coffers are fuller.

At any rate, I hope this post assuages your curiosity. 🙂

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A Quick Introduction to Chelem

My hosts are leaving tomorrow and I have a full day of dishwashing to look forward to to set up my kitchen. But I didn’t have dish soap or scrubby pads (everything has a greasy layer of grime from my long time away) so I decided to pop into Chelem this afternoon to get a few thing at “Willy’s,” what passes for a supermarket in this sleepy fishing village. I am about 2.5 to 3KM from “downtown” Chelem and can get there by the beach. So it is walking distance, depending on how much time I have, how hot it is out, and what I need to bring back.

First stop was to exchange an empty water jug for a full one. I’m not sure how I feel about getting drinking water there since the process doesn’t seem particularly sterile. My hosts buy bottled water for drinking at Costco (I think it’s a 1.5L size) and only use this water for doing a second rinse of veggies (yes, they do the initial clean of the veggies with tap water) and to use for making coffee and cooking stuff like pasta and potatoes. I’ll have to see what I feel comfortable doing.

This is a colectivo, or minibus, that goes to Progreso. I can grab one near my house to go into Chelem or Progreso and then take a bus to MĂ©rida. Depending on what I plan to do that day, that will likely be my preferred way of getting around as it will be much cheaper than paying for fuel.

Here is the main plaza/square:

I walked around for a bit and this is a typical street:

I got what I needed at Willy’s (it’s a bit “better” in terms of selection as to what I could get at the City Deli on Isla) and then wandered a bit to see what was up and if anything smelled good for lunch.

I wandered into this covered area with some stalls on each side of the aisle, some open with food cooking.

Some ladies saw me looking at menus and were quick to tell me what they had available for lunch. I asked for two tacos and sat down.

I’d bought that bottle of Fresca at Willy’s and would regret having nearly downed all of it before my tacos arrived. See that green sauce over top? The lady brought me the tacos without the green sauce and asked me if I wanted chiles. Yes, of course. So she brought me back a little sauce. Great, I love the green better than the red! But I assumed it was the readily available commercial stuff, poured it onto each taco, and dug in. Well…

It wasn’t the commercial stuff. Oh, the PAIN. I don’t think I’ve ever hurt so good while eating Mexican food. LOL I felt myself flush and, of course, my nose started to run and my eyes to water. I doled out my Fresca, bravely finished, paid, had a five-minute conversation the ladies running the stand (one said that I really should consider Progreso over MĂ©rida — more house for my pesos and sea breezes while still having access to all the services I want…), and then hoofed it to a store across the square to get a fruit juice! I then headed home and didn’t get lost or stuck in the sand!

I’m told Chelem will come to life as the hot weather comes and folks from MĂ©rida escape to the beach. So it will be interesting to see if more things open. There really wasn’t much today.

Besides this lunch counter, I’ve also been to two expat-owned restaurants in the area. I’ll be going back to both and will do posts then. One does Indian (!) for takeaway that is at least as good as anything I’ve had in England (!) and the other has very good pizzas, calzones, and salads, all at super reasonable prices (expensive for most Mexicans, but a bargain by expat standards).

My hosts are leaving tomorrow and then I will get working on properly settling in. As I said, I have to wash all the kitchen stuff, but I also have laundry to catch up on so I can switch to my own blankets, pillows, sheets, towels, etc. Once that’s all done and I’m more properly settled, I’ll share some pictures! Now, I don’t plan to give a full tour of the property, but I’ll show you my space (living room/bedroom + bathroom), the kitchen, and the courtyard with the pool. 🙂