Travel

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Once Upon a Time in Mexico

I collapsed on the couch with Bonita when I got off work around four. It was much too late for a nap and too far to bedtime to stay there. I decided I had enough on my Bodega Aurrera list to make it worth trying to get there and back on the bus. What a success that was! I had no wait time worth mentioning at either end and it was practically door-to-door service — much less effort than wrestling the truck out of the parking bay!

On the way home, I remembered that it’s Monday and that La 21 would be closed, so there went my supper plans. I had a nice German sausage at home to convert into a hot dog, but nothing even remotely bread-like to use for that purpose and not even any flour on hand to whip up a flat bread. I dropped the groceries off at home, told Bonita I’d be right back, and headed into the growing darkness to get what I needed for dinner.

My destination was not a store. This is Mexico, after all, where the best treasures are rarely found in stores. Sometimes, they roam in the dark streets of your neighbourhood, ringing a bell to warn you they are coming. And sometimes like tonight, they are found under a lamp post and surrounded by a bunch of men chatting.

The cart they were leaning against was promising. I sized up the group and called out to the man at the head of the cart, “You selling bread?”
“Sorry, ma’am. All out of French. Got some pan dulce and a croissant left, though.”
“The croissant would be perfect, thanks!”

He bagged up the croissant, I passed over 5 pesos, and then I walked the few blocks home in inky darkness. Not the supper I’d planned, but a sweet bready Mexican reinvention of the croissant plus some wurst plus some mustard wound up being the quick and easy supper I needed after a long day.

“French” (frances) is what passes for a baguette around here and seems to be at least as if not more popular than tortillas! You can get them fresh at almost any little convenience store, race out into the night to catch a cart when you hear its bell in the distance, or you can sometimes stumble onto a scene that feels like a euphemism for a drug deal — as it should, because that carby goodness is addictive! 🙂

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Sunday Surprises

Yesterday, an ad on the local garage sale site caught my eye. As an avid walker, I have strong opinions on footwear and one of the best types of sandals out there are made by Teva, which are not readily available in Mérida. A gal I’d bought from before had a brand new pair in my size for sale! I contacted her to ask where I could meet her to pick them up. She said she was downtown but would be at the Chuburná de Hidalgo market most of Sunday. So if I couldn’t meet her there, then I’d have to go downtown on Monday. I don’t know who was more surprised, me that she was going to be at the market I was planning to go today, or her that an expat lives close enough to that market to go there weekly!

We met up at 9:00 and I tried the sandals on to make sure they fit. Yup!

They’re definitely not a model that I’m keen on for daily wearing (much too casual), but I’ll be so glad to have them if I’m only running errands.

As the seller and I had met up a few times before, she kind of knew me and said that she also had a skirt for me to look that she was sure I’d love and that she wanted $150 for. She was so right that I’d love it! I am going to live in that skirt from now on — it’s so pretty! 🙂 And only $150! Similar styles of skirts go for $600-$700 in the shops! That was so nice of her!

Sunday at the Chuburná market gets better and better. When I went last week, I was sad that there were no taco stands open. Well, today they were back, but in a really nice food court area. Of course, I didn’t have my phone, so I’ll have to remember to snap a pic next week!

I got in and placed my Mother’s Day call. I’d barely hung up when the doorbell rang. Who could that be? Oh, the courier company that is not FedEx delivers on Sunday???!!! Last I checked tracking on that package, it was still in Texas and I didn’t expect it until the end of the week!

The item was something I’ve wanted since I moved in, a spray mop, which makes so much sense in Mexico due to the vast expanses of tile floors, but which is absurdly hard to find here unless you want to pay very big bucks to import from the U.S.

Amazon finally had a cheap one with reasonable shipping to Mexico so I decided it was worth taking a chance on. I’m pleased with the quality even though I know that the name brand my hosts at the beach had is better. This will make it so much easier to clean my showers and do a daily pass on the kitchen floors, although the mop and bucket will be best for the rest of the house.

Eep, it’s 1PM and I haven’t even started on my very full day of work. It’s going to be a late night again!