Work was going to be slow today since everyone’s closed so I decided to take the day off that I was supposed to take off on Saturday after doing a surprisingly full day yesterday. So I had a very sloooow morning as I planned out my day. On the list were returning my guests’ rented wheelchair, picking up the bag that was being muled in from Playa around 4PM, paying all my utility bills and my rent, and checking out a few stores to start actively shopping for a stove.

So here is a map of the first part of my day so you can follow along…

I headed out to return the wheelchair first. I was nervous when I saw a centro address, but it wound up being a super easy location to get to — once I knew where it is was I didn’t even need navigation help to get there or to go on to my second destination across town. There was even ample parking for Moya right on site (and a couple of cute guys to guide me in and out).

That done, I headed off to Plaza Dorada (with a stop en route next door at the Plaza Las Americas Scotiabank to make a withdrawal). I’ve determined that Plaza Dorada is the most convenient place to pay my bills and rent, all of which come and are due around the same time. The water bill is supposed to be payable at a number of grocery stores, but whenever I’ve tried that, I’ve been told they can’t accept payment for whatever reason. Plaza Dorada has a water office (JAPAY) that accepts payments. It also has a HSBC where I can withdraw money and pay my power (CFE) and internet (Izzi) bills and also direct deposit my rent into my landlord’s bank account. This is all so convenient that I don’t mind that I have to pay a fee for the utility payments, which would be free at their respective offices.

That done, I went into Coppel to look at stoves, but they only had low-end ones so that was a pass and I decided to go check out the nearby Home Depot, a location I hadn’t been to yet. But first, I had lunch at the excellent Chinese stand in the food court and choose noodles with chicken and this steamed bun thing that has a filling with flavours I’ve never tasted in my life. Really yummy!

Home Depot had at least a half dozen stoves that met my criteria, in a wide variety of prices, but I realised that I missed their December sale, which was a bit shattering. I decided to check out the other location “just in case.”

But first, I took barely a detour to a used furniture and clothing store to look for a dresser. I thought I found what I wanted until I discovered the mould in the bottom drawer. Considering how badly my dressing table smells and that I can’t store any fabric items in it (something I’m working on rectifying!), I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to splurge on new storage for my master closet-room. I may end up just going the shelving + plastic baskets route as that’s probably the best solution for this climate.

The stop was worthwhile, though, since I found two nice skirts for everyday wear, something I desperately needed. Now, I need a couple in heavy cotton and then I can work on my tops. Sadly, my Mazatlán wardrobe is not appropriate for Mérida.

It was then time to go across town to the other Home Depot nearish my house. They had the same selection and prices as the first location so that confirmed that I missed the sales. 🙁 I’d seen a few months ago at Bodega Aurrera (of all places) a stove that seemed pretty good so I decided that I might as well go up there too since I had to go most of the way there anyway to get to the roundabout that would let me turn and go south to home.

Just as I was leaving Home Depot, the mule texted to say that she was two hours out, which was bang on schedule. The plan was to go drop the truck at home and bus it to centro to meet her. But first, Bodega, which didn’t have a stove worth a second look this time. Oh, well.

Truck dropped at home, I hopped on a bus and decided to ride to the end of the line so I could go check out the central market in the hope of finding some cotton skirts.

Once downtown, I found that ice cream place with the amazing vanilla and chocolate cake ice cream and ordered a small scoop. Today was our first really hot day in ages — we likely hit the mid-30s — and I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more at the moment!

I finished it when I got to the area of the market, thank goodness, because even with the promises of cleaning up the market, the vicinity still reeked.

I went into the market and poked around, but it was the same as it always has been, so filthy that I can’t imagine shopping there when I can find the goods elsewhere. 🙁 It’s such a shame. I did pass a few clothing shops, but they only had blouses and Mayan style dresses, nothing suitable for me.

By the time I’d had my fill it was about 3:45 and I calculated I needed about 15 minutes to head to the bag pickup meeting point, where I needed to be around 4:00. So I started meandering my way there, looking at clothes along the way. I found some lovely cotton skirts, but they were much too thin — I don’t want to have to wear a slip in this climate!

I found the meeting point, texted to say I was there, and about two minutes later, the mule arrived. I can’t believe how well I timed that!

The bag was a bit heavy, but small, so I decided that I would bus home instead of taking an Uber. I went to Calle 60, figuring that, surely, I was north enough to be out of the absolutely stupidly huge “no pickup or drop off zone” downtown since I have been dropped at around the height before. Nope. At least a dozen buses passed me as I trudged along until one was finally able to stop. Mérida is working on both the bus system and traffic congestion in the downtown core. I’m not the only resident who has chimed in to say that prioritising cars in centro is not the right solution to either problem.

I got in and did a couple of quick jobs so that I wouldn’t have to rush tomorrow morning and then evaluated if I had enough energy left to walk to the sushi restaurant for dinner. I promised myself a sushi meal weeks ago, but haven’t been able to make it happen! In one of those perfect “the universe is listening” moments, the sushi restaurant messaged me about my comment to them a while back about how it was a shame that I was in their high minimum order delivery zone when I’m not even two full blocks out of their low minimum delivery zone. Tonight, they wanted to let me know that they’ve dropped minimum order total for my neighbourhood!

When it was around $150 (to which I’d add a tip), it made no sense to order from them when I could go to the restaurant and have a great meal for around $90, including the tip. But with a new minimum of only $98, then I could order my usual and say, what the heck, and order a second “treat” item. So that’s what I did tonight, ordering my beloved tako roll (reminder tako is Japanese for octopus!) and trying out their mango and salmon roll. I had a bit of a hard time understanding the gal taking my order (she had to repeat each question), but she understood me just fine and I wouldn’t be embarrassed to order again and get her. Delivery was super quick (as is the case when I order outside of normal eating times here) and the food felt fresh. Since the guy had to come from much further than the taco and pizza places, I gave him a bigger tip. The octopus roll was en pointe, as usual. The mango roll was so-so. I’m glad I tried it, but I’ll order something different next time.

What a full day it has been! I’m disappointed about the stove, but now that I know it could be had for under $6,000, I’m loathe to spend the $9,000ish I’d budgeted. There are a few other places I want to check. Buying a stove in Mexico is going to warrant a whole post as it’s been a really interesting experience and one where Mexicans have validated my (and other expats’) opinions about Mexican stoves and revealed a set of different customs and even values.

Don’t get used to my posting like this regularly again — I just did so much today and covered so much ground I had to record it!