(Post 8 of 189. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

I cannot believe that I will be in Oaxaca de Juárez, “Oaxaca City,” in less than 48 hours! This is a major dream come true/bucket list destination for me and I’ve barely been able to think about my trip, my professional life has been in such upheaval these last few months. But I have friends visiting who are available to watch Bonita, so off I must go even if the budget and timing aren’t great.

Oaxaca has a reputation for being one of the top culinary destinations in Mexico. My friends just spent three weeks there and came back raving about everything, but especially the food. I cannot wait to try all the different types of mole available there! I even promised myself I would try chapulines, grasshoppers, something I’m trying not to psych myself against!

Oaxaca City is just a short, and very inexpensive, “commuter flight” away. I leave at 6:15 Wednesday morning and should be checked in at my Airbnb by 9:00!

I was initially going to do a vacation-vacation with a nice hotel, but Oaxaca lodging is surprisingly expensive, plus I really can’t take all that time off. I ended up getting a much, much better deal on a whole two-bedroom apartment with one of the bedrooms set up as an office! My friends really got to know the lay of the land in Oaxaca and say I am in the perfect location at a great price. This is going to be a tourism trip for me, but I’m also going with the mindset of possibly moving there in a few years. So it will be good to be able to live like a local for the week.

For this trip, I bought myself that has been a very, very, very long time coming. During my time in Europe, I really regretted not making more of an effort to get a proper day bag. The little backpack I bought was great on travel day, but I don’t like a backpack when I’m exploring large cities. I really missed my leather tote, which would not have been ideal either since it doesn’t have a closure at the top.

Almost two years ago now, I found a pink tote at Sears that I really love and used as my day bag and airport bag when I went to Mazatlán last year. But it wasn’t quite the right size or sturdy enough to haul my electronics and be my personal item on travel day. So last month, I started shopping for a travel tote that could handle a laptop. The research rabbit hole led me to the Travelon anti-theft Heritage tote bag in pewter.

I knew it was probably perfect — same format as my pink tote, but just that bit bigger and sturdier, my other favourite colour, super well reviewed on a number of platforms (I found a great review on YouTube showing someone packing it). It also has locking zippers and anti-slash panels for a bit of extra security. And to my surprise, it was a better deal for me on the Mexico Amazon site since it was eligible there for free Prime shipping. So even if the bag cost was a little higher than buying on the US site, I saved a ton on shipping.

Since I plan to mostly travel in Mexico over the next few years to avoid jeopardising being able to apply for citizenship as soon as possible (you can’t have been out of Mexico for more than six months in the five years preceding your citizenship application), I’m changing my travel style a bit. The national airlines, like Volaris, are rather like the barebones European carriers that start with super low rates and then nickel and dime you for everything above that. For this trip, I could bring just a purse on board or pay to step up to get both a personal item on the plane and a checked bag. So I decided to go with a checked bag for this trip so that I can have a bigger suitcase that will let me bring back any treasures I find!

I also finally bought myself a set of really good travel bottles, silicone and leak proof. I look forward to going through security on Wednesday not having to worry about liquids, as they’ll be in my checked bag, but also not being too stressed that they’ll have exploded in my suitcase from the change in pressure. I’m still double bagging everything just in case. 🙂

If my guests’ tales of their adventures are anything to go by, Oaxaca should provide me for fodder for lots of posts. I may post several times a day instead of stretching things out to post beyond my return, depending on how busy I get. Whatever happens, I can’t wait!

(Post 7 of 189. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

I was witness to something very bizarre a few weeks ago that nobody believed me about. I actually wondered if maybe I was seeing things. It was kind of improbable. But the other night, I got photographic proof! Now, people say that I’m still crazy, but not about this. What an improvement!

Can you see it?

How about now?

Yep, that’s a dog walking along the top of my garden wall! As I can understand it, he starts at the neighbours on the south side, walks west to east along my south wall, turns north, walks along the street façade, and then disappears into the yard of my neighbours to the north.

I have seen a lot of cats do this, but a big dog?! I know that “roof dogs” are a thing in Mexico, but a dog that takes a wall as an expressway is new to me!

(Post 6 of 184 189. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

All the way back in 2008, I was dreaming of getting braces. I had them as a child, but I had to stop the treatment as I was having allergic reactions to the metal or something in the braces and I kept breaking out in sores. I always kicked myself for not finishing because my teeth got really crooked again and I start having an overbite. But I’ve since learned that this happens a lot even when you finish your treatment and that someone who had braces as a child might still need them as an adult.

At any rate, in 2008, I had health insurance that would’ve covered 50% of the cost of braces. My out-of-pocket cost would’ve still been something like $10,000. It was insane. I made the decision I was going to hit the road, so I made sort of peace with my awful teeth.

In 2013, I visited my first Mexican dentist. I was suddenly awakened to the fact that there are countries where dental care doesn’t necessarily have to be a luxury. My dentist in Mazatlan in 2015 was the first person who flat out told me that getting braces wasn’t just a vanity thing but that it would help my teeth wear better.

Since I got to Mérida, I have kept a master list of spending priorities. In December, I decided that braces was now near the top of the list and that it was time to get a quote so that I could perhaps start at the end of 2020. I had visited a few dentists and gotten a range of quotes just from a visual observation, but I hadn’t found a dentist that I particularly clicked with. I eventually got a reference from a friend of mine for a dentist in a part of town that I normally would have discounted, but I was shocked to find out some of his prices. Even though he is in the Altabrisa area, which is quite upscale, his prices are very much in line with what I would pay at the dentist in my neighbourhood. His office is absolutely no frills, which I like. I want to pay my dentist for his services and his equipment, not his fancy furniture.

The initial visit was just to have a cleaning and a consult. That was supposed to be about 350 pesos. I asked him about braces. He went into detail about the process and how long it would take and that he could take moulds and start right away! He seemed to kind of brush off my questions about money. I finally had to make it clear that that was my biggest concern at this point. He said that was the least of his concerns. The cost was going to be 4000 pesos upfront, then about 10 visits at 400 pesos each, plus I was going to need the moulds and some x-rays, all for an additional about 1000 pesos. So about 9000 pesos total. About 600CAD. Total. 😳 If I could not pay the 4000 in one shot, we would make it work however many payments I needed.

This dentist was unlike any I have ever encountered in Canada! There, I have never felt like I, the patient, came first. It was always about the money.

Needless to say, this suddenly became something that I didn’t really need to budget — or wait — for. I agreed to have the moulds taken right away and we would meet again in a month to install the first set of braces.

Moulds taken, I was sent around the block to another location to have the x-rays done. I did not have an appointment there and they still were able to take me right away. To my surprise, they would just email the x-rays to the dentist and they also gave me an actual print-out for me to take home!

A month later, at the end of January, I had my first appointment to have the braces installed. This dentist does it in stages so you can adjust to them.  So he only installed braces on the top six teeth, the two front, and then two on each side. He only charged me 2000 pesos for this visit instead of the full 4000 in one shot.

Within days, I was absolutely miserable. I had a huge sore on one side of my mouth inside the lip. It was really bad. I stopped in at a pharmacy to ask if they had a medicine like what I would’ve used in Canada, Orajel, but he was in absolutely no mood to deal with me. He said to go to a doctor and come back with a prescription. The next day, Sunday, I really could no longer put up with it. I was feeling very fragile, I hurt that badly! I called a pharmacy in my neighbourhood and asked if there was a doctor who could prescribe me something with benzocaine in it. The person who answered the phone passed me over to a pharmacist. He confirmed that I was an adult who was having ulcers from braces and asked me for my address. When he had it, he told me to have 200 pesos ready and that help was on the way. Sure enough, soon after that, I got a delivery of a medicine called Kanka! That stuff hurt almost as badly as the ulcer, but it really helped.

A few days later, I was almost healed and I had another installation appointment. I was very honest with my dentist that my two weeks have been hell and that I was miserable and that this was not working for me. He told me to keep up with the Kanka and oral wax as necessary and that he would see me in two further weeks. There was no charge for this appointment.

I am really glad that I did not play the martyr because those extra two weeks really made a huge difference. When I went back in, I was ready for him to install six braces on my lower teeth. He did that, and that was almost 3 weeks ago now. I am going in again on Tuesday to have more installed. I have braces on 12 teeth now, so there are 20 to go.

I am surprised that I am already seeing results! The dentist told me that I would be happy within three months with my front tooth that was sticking out, and I am already noticing a huge difference. I have even had one person comment that he can see a difference too!

This is going to be the first visit that will only be 350 or 400 pesos. That is barely going to sting in the budget. I am so grateful to live somewhere that I can afford to take care of myself like this. I had really given up on this being a possibility for me in Canada. And even when I had health insurance, it would’ve still been a huge financial burden that I would’ve likely put off.

(Post 5 of 172 184. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

I was getting ready to go painting on Wednesday night, when I thought that I should share some details about my favourite accessory. Being in a very hot tropical climate, it’s really important to stay hydrated. I was in a bad habit of just buying a bottle of water when I was out and about. I just could not find a bottle that stayed cool for any length of time while I was out, even if there was ice in it. So it just made more sense to buy a bottle of cold water than to carry a heavy bottle of unpalatable water.

But as Yucatán began to ban single-use plastic products and the impact on my budget began to be more noticeable, I knew I needed a long-term solution as I was a resident, not a tourist!

After spending some time on various travel forums, I began to see recommendations for one brand of bottle that folks claimed stayed cold even in super hot climates: Mira. I found the Mira 17-ounce cola shaped bottle at a very affordable price on Amazon, including shipping to Mexico. I ordered it in teal, but it’s really more of sea foam colour:

This bottle is nearly everything I was looking for! I can go out walking for hours and the water is still at the very least cool, if not totally cold, by the end of my activities. The bottle does not sweat, so I can just throw it in my purse and not ruin everything in it. It is just the right size to throw in a purse. It holds enough water for a few hours in activity, but it’s not super heavy. The only thing I didn’t like was that it doesn’t have a handle to be able to add a carabiner and to attach the bottle to a bag, so I bought a silicon carrier separately.

A few months ago, I could not find the cap for my bottle. The way my kitchen was set up at the time, I finally had to concede that I had probably accidentally thrown it in the trash! I was able to order a replacement cap directly from Mira and have it sent to someone who was about to travel to Merida. That person had to travel from the airport to her home passing just a few blocks from my house. She and I agreed that I would stand on a corner and she would stop and hand me the package. But her husband was driving and he does not really like to drive in Merida, so he was in a hurry to get home. They barely slowed down as a package flew out the window with a very loud sorry that followed! It was very funny!

Getting the cap was definitely cheaper than buying a second bottle, but had I not found someone to bring it down, I would’ve had to buy a replacement on Amazon from a third-party seller. I’m really glad that I still have an original. The Mira customer service was excellent. I told them that I really needed it shipped fast to make sure that it got to the lady in time, and they made it happen.

(Post 4 of 172 174 (So far!). Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

Some of you may remember my visit of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2016. It was very clear to some of you that I really needed to start painting again. It took three full years, but I finally got back to it! It just had to be the right time and place. I have found a painting studio fairly close to my house where I have an excellent teacher and all the materials are included in the price of my lessons. I really would like to have a studio at home one day, but because I am renting here and such a messy painter, I am happy to leave the house to paint so that I don’t have to worry about staining anything. I also find that going out of the house to paint means that I am more consistent about doing it and more focussed when I’m doing it. I really need that time out of my head and away from the computer and all the distractions so that I can create and relax a little bit. The classes are one two-hour session a week.

The studio, Agustín Galería, is located in an old house in Itzimná near de Monumento a la Patria.

To be honest, I was kind of lukewarm about painting again after completing my first work, a cityscape. I got some really good comments and feedback about it, but I just didn’t really enjoy painting it. It didn’t feel like a personal project to me. I decided that for my next project, I was going to really challenge myself and try to paint a portrait of a Bonita! I had never done anything like that in my life. I have painted some birds, but no other animals. By the time I signed her portrait, I had to accept that, holy cow, I am actually talented at this. I cannot believe how well this painting turned out! It really looks like my girl at her best!

Needless to say, I was feeling pretty confident when it came time to choose my next project. I decided I wanted to paint a portrait of my father! My teacher gave me a look that clearly said that he had no confidence in this project and that I had better keep my expectations really low. He said that normally for portrait painting, he wants the students to spend a lot of time drawing first. But as long as I was willing to accept that I was probably going to end up with a bad version of a Picasso, he would let me try.

My sister is a portrait painter who has studied a lot of the techniques, so she spent some time with me in the week before I started, teaching me a little bit about how to approach a portrait and some of the techniques behind it. When I got to class, my teacher said that he didn’t want me to get too technical, that he didn’t feel that that was going to work for me. He had me start the same way that I started with Bonita, just freehand drawing with a brush and observing, and, holy smokes, my dad slowly came to life under my brush!

My sister gave me some technical comments last week that I applied this week and that made a real difference. If we crop out only his features, eyes, nose, mouth, it 100% looks like my dad. It’s just the facial shape is a little off still. So the next class, I will fix that. Anybody who would look at the picture that I use as a model would say that it doesn’t really look like it, but I’ve had a few people who knew my dad who said that they can totally see him. Today, my teacher said that he was surprised by how well it turned out and that I definitely have a talent worth honing!

I am at the end of this session, just two more lessons to go. We are starting up at the end of April. I suspect that my next painting will be one of the hills around Haven, done in a similar style to Van Gogh’s Under Thunderclouds. But I am not married to that idea. Another idea that I have is to take a picture of a street in my neighbourhood and try to paint that. My sister suggested that I paint the love of my life, so perhaps I will try painting a plate of tacos! *snickers*

I don’t think that anything has made me feel more settled into my life here than taking up painting again.