Restaurants

by

Wednesday Night in Mazatlán’s Centro Histórico

Tonight, Dale made reservations for us to listen to her friend Rob Lamonica play at Héctor’s Bistro. This is the same friend we listened to at Macaws.

That didn’t work out quite as we planned as we didn’t realise that we needed to reserve an exterior table and instead ate inside, wondering when the heck the music was going to start!

We arrived at six and were promptly impressed by the upscale ambiance at Héctor’s and glad that we were a tad more dressed up than we normally are!

Unfortunately, they don’t have a liquor license, so we couldn’t have beer. Dale had thought that she’d been given permission over the phone for us to bring some, so I had a few in my purse, but we were told that they’d be shut down if an inspector came in and saw a beer on the table. Bummer. She opted for ice water and I had a limonada with mineral water. Funny how I am not a mineral water fan, but I love it in a limonada. Limonada is always more expensive than beer, but here the difference was only 5 pesos, versus 10 at Carmelita’s.

The menu was a little pricy, but still had plenty of options below 150 pesos. Dale had eaten not too long before and is a vegetarian, so I suggested that she get the roasted veggie platter for us to share. This proved to be absolutely delicious, lots of different roasted veggies drizzled with a balsamic reduction and served with whole grain sour dough toast. Dale and I were both excited by the basil. 😀

I decided to have a laugh and order their pastrami sandwich, not expecting to receive anything even remotely resembling a pastrami sandwich. I was right. 🙂 It was a fancy roast beef sandwich on whole grain bread with cheese, Dijon mustard, and a crunchy sour gherkin in the middle, served with a side of bitter greens. It was delicious, with a wonderful mixture of textures (the bread was divine) and flavours. Not something I’d want again, but worth the 130 pesos just for being different from anything else I’ve eaten since I got here.

With the tip, our total bill was 305 pesos; very reasonable for such high quality fare! I do the same thing here that I do in Canada and the US when I pay with cash, tell the server exactly how much to bring back so I don’t have to worry about coming up with the right change for the tip. I must be using the right words because I’ve never had a problem being understood (eg. doscientos por el cambio) and am usually told ‘muy bien, gracias’ (very well, thank you).

We finally figured out that we needed to go outside to listen to Rob and we did so for almost an hour. It was just him on his keyboard doing easy listening stuff. Having barely slept last night, I have to confess he almost put me to sleep. 🙂

Near eight, Dale suggested with walk down to Olas Altas to sit on the sea wall and have a beer from my purse while listening to the waves. That sounded good, so we said goodbye to Rob and walked the few blocks down.

On the way, we pondered the name Olas Altas. I knew that Altas is high and Dale’s best guess for Olas was waves. She was right!

We debated for a bit if we’d get in trouble for having a beer on the seawall, laughing that the courthouse was right behind us, then remembered that we’ve seen people walking around with open drinks during the day. So we discretely cracked open a can of Tecate each, a six-pack of which I recently received as a thank you. It was delicious and a nice change from the Pacifico, with a bit of a spicier finish. I’d brought the beer in my insulated Walmart bag with a bottle of frozen water, so it was still very cold!

We both marveled at the wonder of our life, to be sitting on a seawall in Mexico in absolutely perfect temperatures in early December to be comfortable in short sleeves (and NO BUGS), listening to the waves and feeling safe and secure walking around the neighbourhood so late.

When we were done with our beers, I suggested we go back to Plaza Machado for the leg stretch (just a couple of blocks) and then get a pulmonía back, not quite ready to call it an evening. Dale agreed.

The plaza was not the happening place it was on a Friday night, with almost no merchants and no restaurant tables on the street. I bought ice cream from a cart (coffee, mmmm) and Dale decided to try their tequila flavour (mmm). She still has trouble with the coins and the ice cream gals and I had such a laugh as we did our best to sort her out.

It’s so hard to hang onto small change here and the best she could do was 100 pesos, for which they did not have change. I managed to convince her to part with her 10 peso coin to go with the 1 and 2 pesos coins she had to get to the 20 peso cost of the ice cream. She was holding onto the 10 peso coin for the panga, dreading making them give her 92 pesos in change.

I made her head spin when I reminded her that I owed her for the half of Rob’s tip so I would pay for the pulmonía with a 100 peso note, get 50 pesos back, and pay for both our panga tickets with the 50 peso note, which would require only an easy 34 pesos in change and if she insisted, she could later pay me back the 8 peso advance. Have I lost any of you yet?! 😀

We had our ice cream and then went to negotiate a pulmonía ride. The driver was adamant that it be 50 pesos and I said that I paid 45 pesos last time and I wasn’t paying a centavo more this time. The thing is, I only had a 100 peso note, so I knew that giving me 55 pesos in change was going to be a challenge and I’d end up paying 50 anyway, but I wanted to play the hard nosed residente. We pretended to walk away and the guy called us back. When we arrived at the embarcadero and I told him 50 in change was fine, he was happy.

So that was a Wednesday night in Mazatlán’s centro histórico. Very quiet, balmy, unhurried, and unpopulated, a nice break from the unrelenting noise of Isla, incredibly enough. I’m actually starting to think about looking for a rental in Maz for next year instead of coming back to Isla. I can get used to the street noise. It’s the dogs and roosters that are ruining my nights…

Unfortunately, my iPhone camera sucks and most of my pictures came out blurry. Last time I go out and rely on it for photos. 🙁 It’s nice to have as a backup, but nothing beats my beat up old Pentax Optio W90.

by

Live Music at Macaws in Mazatlán

Dale drove down to Maz with a musician friend who plays at a bunch of venues around Maz. She’s been wanting to go hear him play since she got here, but was leery of going out alone after dark. Now that we’re both comfortable going from the panga to the historical district, going out after dark didn’t feel like a big issue.

She swung by my place at 5:00 and we headed out to the panga at around 5:15, already dusk, with a huge moon hanging over Isla. It was getting on dark when we landed. We had decided to walk to the venue, a B&B/restaurant called Macaws, but take a pulmonía back.

We walked down Emilio Barragán to Constitución, which took us to the Plaza Machado. It was so different from the plaza during the day, lined with restaurant tables and full of vendors and live music!

At the end of it, we had to turn left, then immediately right, and then walked more or less straight down to Macaws, which is right in front of the art museum.

Dale wasn’t hungry, but I decided to order dinner. Being tired of Mexican food (*sheepish grin*), I was very happy to order a burger, 60 pesos for a basic one with fries, but I added a whopping (*tongue firmly in cheek*) 30 pesos worth of pepper jack cheese, sautéed onions, and bacon. It was a really good burger, missing only a bit of mustard and relish, but otherwise as good as anything I could get back home.

The music tonight was jazz and absolutely lovely, providing atmosphere, but not so much volume that we couldn’t talk. My favourite song was their rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, played very slow and melancholy. I said to Dale that I think I live over the rainbow and she clinked my beer bottle in agreement!

Dale is a slow drinker and had just one beer. I like mine cold, so I easily made my way through two. 🙂

At one point, an older gentleman sat with us because the place was quite full and he and I had a nice chat while Dale and her friend headed out to see another friend during a break in the music. He’s from Vancouver, is sailing, and is anchored in Maz.

Macaws makes homemade ice cream and Dale had decided when I ordered my burger that she was going to order their Butterfinger ice cream near the end of the evening. I asked if they had chocolate, yes, so I caved and got some too. OMG. Dale and I are pretty sure it was the best ice cream we have had in our lives! I couldn’t have had a full dish of the delicious Butterfinger (I have trouble now with ice cream that has a lot of extra stuff in it like caramel), but the chocolate was perfect with me and I had no trouble with the bitter chunks of dark chocolate that studded the ice cream.

It wasn’t a cheap night for me in pesos, almost 300 after the tips to the waiter and band, but such good value!

We left Macaws at about nine after the music was done and Dale could say goodbye to her friend. We then walked back to Plaza Machado. We had a look at all the wares and no one was pushy, to my immense surprise.

I somehow managed to come here without a notebook or much paper and have been scrambling to take notes, so I’ve had a notebook on my shopping list. Before going to Macaws, I had seen some beautiful notebooks made of recycled paper, the covers of which featured artwork that could later be framed. One struck me in particular and I was still thinking about it as we headed home.

On the first pass around the plaza, I saw that it was still there and as we walked around, I thought about how much I would be willing to pay, settling on 50 pesos. I stopped a third time in front of the table and asked how much. 50 pesos! I offered 35 and the guy said absolutely not, no less than 40. Sold!

We then headed to where all the pulmonías stop and I asked how much to get to the panga. How much were we willing to pay? Dale said no more than 40. The guy said, ha, no less than 50. Dale said that we would walk. The guy said fine, 45. We both found that pricey for the short distance that we were going, but fine split two ways. It really makes me realise that my trip yesterday from the Golden Zone was a good deal!

The panga runs at the regular price until midnight, when it jumps to a whopping 60 pesos each way. It was only 9:40 when we got to the dock, so we paid just 8 pesos each.

Dale doesn’t wear her reading glasses and relies heavily on me to sort out her currency when we’re together. I said drily to the rather morose cashier that Dale needed her glasses and the cashier burst out laughing, which was very rewarding. Dale said that ‘gafas’ is her word of the day.

The panga arrived after about five minutes, the first time I’ve had to wait for one. After that, home was only about 10 minutes away and I made it home at just about bang on 10:00.

We’re both so glad that we went out tonight. I would feel perfectly comfortable going out like that on my own, with the pulmonía ride back. The area around Plaza Machado was hopping and the ambiance was warm and welcoming. But Dale is eager to go try out another venue her friend plays at, so I doubt I’ll have much need to go out alone!

The singer. Notice the light above her is shaped like a firefly!

The singer. Notice the light above her is shaped like a firefly!

The best chocolate ice cream I have ever had in my life, even better than the best gelato.

The best chocolate ice cream I have ever had in my life, even better than the best gelato.

Butterfinger has peanut butter in it.

Butterfinger has peanut butter in it.

The lights of home.

The lights of home.

Ship in the harbour on the Maz side.

Ship in the harbour on the Maz side.

by

Camarones Al Coco En La Playa

I felt like having lunch out today. No reason and not for lack of food at home! I emailed Dale to see if she wanted to join me. Yes, for a beer only since she had just had a big breakfast. We went to El Velero, where I had the tacos my first morning here.

We ordered two Pacificos and they they didn’t have any of the 355mL bottles (!) so they brought us a 900ishmL ‘Ballena’ bottle to share. Total cost for that was 30 pesos. Two of the smaller bottles would have cost us 50 pesos for less beer! Dale and I had a good laugh about that. We “dressed” our beers with salt and lime!

I decided to order the coconut shrimp! I have no idea what is getting into me these days. 🙂 The shrimp came with buttered toast (Dale laughed at my, “Oh, it’s BREAD!”), delicately seasoned rice, frozen veggies (carrot, broccoli, cauliflower), and an incredible mango dipping sauce, for 120 pesos. The shrimp were huge and the coconut crunchy. Yum!

The only downside to the meal was that we were hounded and hounded and hounded by vendors. The only vendor who scored was the one selling honey. I got a residente price of 70 pesos for a big jar, way more than I could hope to eat anytime soon, but honey doesn’t spoil. Sugar is sugar and I have no illusion about honey being any healthier than other sweet options, but I love the taste and sometimes a schmear of something sweet on a tortilla is a nice treat.

Tonight, Dale and I are going to the historical centre to hear live music! It will be my first time experiencing Maz after dark. We are walking both ways from the panga on Isla, but will walk to the venue as it will still be early and then take a pulmonía back to the panga.

by

Taking the Village Panga

I really needed a day off today and knew that I’d most likely spend it at my computer surfing aimlessly if I stayed home. Even though I didn’t have many pesos left for a shopping trip to Maz, I decided to head over there anyway to get a better lay of the land and figure out where the Ley grocery store is.

Rather than taking the beach panga like I did last time, I took the one from the village. This panga is 16 pesos round trip for residents, just a little less than half of the 30 peso fare for the beach panga. For this one, you pay on both sides, so 8 pesos each time, and you don’t have to worry about losing your return ticket.

This panga drops you off at the docks downtown. It’s actually not that much farther from the historical district than is the beach panga, but it’s closer by a hair to the Ley and the big mercado.

I’d printed out a map showing the location of the Ley, but I didn’t know where I was going to land and my map wasn’t detailed enough for me to figure out where I was. I tried my phone. Google Maps could find the Ley, but could not route me there. Apple Maps (Siri) knew exactly where I was, but couldn’t find the Ley.

I walked around in circles (literally) for a full hour and found the street the Ley was supposed to be on, but I couldn’t find the store. This was fun for the first 45 minutes, then, it wasn’t and I spent the last 15 minutes trying to locate the cathedral, my only real landmark. I really didn’t have enough pesos for a shop and lunch, so I decided that I’d try again next week now that I have a starting point on the Maz side (Pemex 1760).

And, yes, I could have taken a pulmonia to get there, but that didn’t seem like a good use of today’s tight budget. Asking for directions would have also not helped seeing as I doubt I could have followed them.

Despite all that frustration, I did have one bright moment when I found myself standing outside the Pacifico beer brewery! (Why am I not drinking a beer right now? BRB!)

Once I could see the cathedral, finding the mercado was easy. I went in to look for avocados. Everyone had some and there didn’t seem to be much difference in product quality, so I picked a vendor at random and pointed to the avocados, which I could not reach.

She picked one up and said, ‘ripe.’ I didn’t want super ripe ones because I want to have some for a few days, so I shook my head, trying to figure out how to say that I wanted them firmer. I settled on English and said, ‘harder.’

She frowned and then comprehension dawned. ‘Oh, eat tomorrow!’ She touched a few and found one that was nice and firm. I asked for one more, plus the ripe one. Total cost for all three, 20 pesos, which was a bit shocking. I’ve paid less in Assiniboia for good avocados in the dead of winter by watching the specials!

From the mercado, I wanted to go to Waldo’s, the Mexican version of a dollar store, to get a few things for my casita. I knew there was one right there by the mercado on the way to the cathedral. So I circled around the mercado until I saw a stand I recognized and which told me I had to take the next left and the Waldo’s would be across the street.

The Waldo’s was exactly like a dollar store and felt very familiar. I found all but one thing on my list. I picked up a small plastic wastebasket to use as a utensil crock in the kitchen, a square flower pot to hold bathroom items, dish cloths and scrubby pads for the kitchen, a colander, plastic storage containers for leftovers, and plastic wrap. The only thing I couldn’t find was a cheese grater. Total cost was 107 pesos. Plastic wrap is called ‘meat film’, by the way…

It was coming onto 1:00 by this point and I was ravenous, so I headed off to the sushi place, the closest one to the mercado that I knew I could find on my own since it’s right on the water and next to where I had the nachos with Dale.

I knew that it would be a bit of a walk, so I decided to see if the fruit ice cream stand was open today. Yes! There was no guava today, so I got strawberry and ciruela, which is a new word I learned earlier this week, in a cup. I was asked what I wanted for a third flavour (I can get three flavours at once?!) and asked for a surprise, which turned out to be walnut or pecan.

Like the vanilla, the nut was more like real ice cream and quite rich with big pieces of nuts. Very lovely in a small quantity.

As far as I knew, ciruela is plum, so I was a bit surprised to discover to bite into prune ice cream.  I would have expected them to say ciruela seca, or something along those lines, the way that you’d say dried plum in French. At any rate, I absolutely adore prunes and am not so nuts about fresh plums, so this was a wonderful surprise! I could have had a whole cup of just the prune flavour!

Strawberry was on the bottom and exactly as expected, very fresh and sweet and nummy!

I meandered my way down to the water front and turned left on Olas Altas to get to Akita Sushi. I perused the wall menu and decided that while it didn’t look great, it was fine, so I agreed to sit down with a menu.

Every single one of their rolls comes with Philadelphia (cream cheese), which I absolutely abhor in sushi. It’s not just me being a snob, I simply don’t find that the greasy creamy texture that is so great on bagels works that well with vinegared rice. I decided to order three pieces of octopus nigiri from their starter menu (40 pesos!) and a tuna roll if I could get it without Philadelphia, otherwise I’d just do the nigiri and get something else somewhere else. Thankfully, there was no problem with skipping the cheese.

The meal was quite good except for one key ingredient: the soy sauce. I have no idea if that’s what passes for soy sauce in Mexico, but it was very citrusy, with none of the salty umami flavour that is such an integral part of what makes sushi so delicious.

Because of this, the meal was probably a 5 out of 10. It would have been a 7 or an 8 with Kikkoman soy sauce. The rice was surprisingly bland and they were skimpy with the octopus and tuna, but the fish and seafood were extremely fresh and the presentation beautiful. With the tip, lunch came to 125 pesos, about ten bucks. Totally worth it!

I’m going to try at least one other sushi place to get a point of comparison, but I’d definitely come back to Akita with my own bottle of soy sauce!

I was pretty beat by this point and decided to head home. Yes, I already had ice cream before lunch, but I knew I was going to pass a gelataria and I was still peckish. 🙂 I went in and got a cup of gelato for 20 pesos. I saw one flavour that I suspected would be chocolate hazelnut and the lady said it was ‘Ferrero’, which confirmed it. Yum! Ice cream portions in Mexico have so far been very small, closer to a child’s size in Canada or the US, which is absolutely perfect for me.

Returning to the panga was easy from the gelataria, which is just by the Plaza Machado. Apple Maps knew where I was and could find the Pemex, so I had no trouble making my way through the warren of streets to emerge on Emilio Barragán, and then it was a short walk past the docks and the naval base to the panga.

I went to the ticket booth and asked for residente ticket. The woman literally sneered at me and said suspiciously, ‘Residente?’ I held up my bag of shopping and said that I rent a house on Isla. She rolled her eyes and accepted my 8 pesos. Wow. I don’t know what the rules are, but I think that renting a house in the village for the winter should qualify me for the resident rate, especially if folks staying just for a month or two in the RV park get said rate!

I enjoyed the bumpy ride home and stopped off at the tortilla factory to get a fresh batch. I used my thumb and index finger to show the size of the stack I wanted and paid just 5 pesos for it.

Isla panga dock.

Isla panga dock.

Maz dock in the distance.

Maz dock in the distance.

The village panga has a nice handhold to get on.

The village panga has a nice handhold to get on.

Pelican on a panga.

Pelican on a panga.

I haven't been to this part of Isla yet.

I haven’t been to this part of Isla yet.

This is another panga stop for 'colonia', which I understand is the slums...

This is another panga stop for ‘colonia’, which I understand is the slums…

Heading to Maz!

Heading to Maz!

Maz getting closer.

Maz getting closer.

Pacifico brewery!

Pacifico brewery!

Maz panga dock entrance.

Maz panga dock entrance.

Pemex 1760 is a good landmark on the Maz side to find the panga.

Pemex 1760 is a good landmark on the Maz side to find the panga.

I remember turning here in my truck! I can't believe it was about 1.5 hours (not counting stops) to get to Isla from here when I made it in less than 20 minutes on foot and panga!

I remember turning here in my truck! I can’t believe it was about 1.5 hours (not counting stops) to get to Isla from here when I made it in less than 20 minutes on foot and panga!

Pacifico brewery!

Pacifico brewery!

After a very frustrating hour of walking around in circles, a familiar landmark at last! See the cathedral spires in the distance?

After a very frustrating hour of walking around in circles, a familiar landmark at last! See the cathedral spires in the distance?

Found him! (ha ha ha ha ha I crack myself up sometimes)

Found him! (ha ha ha ha ha I crack myself up sometimes)

I have this exact colander, only in pink, at Haven! I didn't buy this one because the holes are too big for rinsing rice, but the find amused me.

I have this exact colander, only in pink, at Haven! I didn’t buy this one because the holes are too big for rinsing rice, but the find amused me.

I came out feeling like I bought the whole store. :)

I came out feeling like I bought the whole store. 🙂

Strawberry, prune, and nut ice creams.

Strawberry, prune, and nut ice creams.

Octopus nigiri. Yuuuuuum. I was told I could mix it up and have my choice of four different kinds of seafood (forget what else), but I just wanted pulpo!

Octopus nigiri. Yuuuuuum. I was told I could mix it up and have my choice of four different kinds of seafood (forget what else), but I just wanted pulpo!

This is NOT soy sauce. Not sure what it is. I just took a picture because I was so shocked by the viscous texture and wanted to remember my reaction. :)

This is NOT soy sauce. Not sure what it is. I just took a picture because I was so shocked by the viscous texture and wanted to remember my reaction. 🙂

Tuna roll, very light on the tuna. The inside is a bit like a California role, with shrimp, avocado, and cucumber (pepino).

Tuna roll, very light on the tuna. The inside is a bit like a California role, with shrimp, avocado, and cucumber (pepino).

Hazelnut and chocolate gelato.

Hazelnut and chocolate gelato.

Part of my Waldo haul. Yes, I got another pink colander. :D (Bonus shot of my stack of tortillas behind the 'meat wrap.'

Part of my Waldo haul. Yes, I got another pink colander. 😀 (Bonus shot of my stack of tortillas behind the ‘meat wrap.’

This little waste basket will make a decent utensil crock, although it is a little tippy.

This little waste basket will make a decent utensil crock, although it is a little tippy.

The flower pot is perfect for the bathroom!

The flower pot is perfect for the bathroom!

I only have about 80 pesos left to get me through to a PayPal deposit I initiated on Friday, so I decided not to get a chicken today even though I was really tempted to for dinner. I might get one tomorrow.

But add in 10 pesos for a bottle of water tomorrow and 8 pesos for a trip back to Maz early in the week to get an ATM, that would leave me pretty flat broke if the PayPal deposit is delayed (which they tend to be when I’m eager for them!). So I’m likely to skip chicken this week. 🙁

I have to pay a hefty sum for a withdrawal, so it didn’t make sense to get cash today with what I had in the bank. I’ll make a decent sized withdrawal next week, then go back and get the rent the following week after I get the balance of my payments for December.

I am absolutely thrilled with how far I was able to stretch my pesos this month! I know that 80 pesos (6.50CAD/5.75USD really doesn’t sound like much to get me through up to a week, but I am not concerned in the least! I’ve got plenty of food and know that I can get, at minimum, a bottle of water, a block of cheese, a beer or two (at the grocery store), and another stack of tortillas with that and still have enough change left to take the panga to Maz.

It was a bit more of a trek to Maz than I thought it would be, but I think that once I figure out the shortest route between the panga and the Ley and mercado, it’ll feel much closer. Just based on the trip home, it looks like it’ll be just about the same amount of time that it takes me to go to Assiniboia, only I get exercise!

I’m really enjoying my life here and feel secure and comfortable both on Isla and walking around Maz. Now that the budget is loosening up, I suspect I’ll be in Maz more often. I’d sure like to find a movie theatre with afternoon showings (being optimistic?) and there are a few more museums I’d like to tour.

Loud early mornings withstanding, I remain absolutely thrilled with my choice of destination for this winter and continue to be in awe of the fact that I am in Mexico!

by

Pensive

I had a really brutal work day yesterday (Monday) and am running on way too little sleep for way too many days in a row. So today is ending up to be pretty much a write-off. I have tons of work for the rest of the week, due late Friday, but the amount will still be manageable if I skip today. I’m looking at my hammock and wondering if I might actually be able to fall asleep if I crawl into it…

When I started to seriously think about Mexico for this winter, I was still very much in the working extremely hard for little money stage of my life. I envisioned my Mexico winter to be pretty much what November has been and what last winter was like, being housebound, typing madly, and occasionally emerging for the odd meal out and a bit of sunshine. I was okay with that and I am okay with how my first few weeks in Mexico have been. I mean, I am in Mexico.

One of my good friends is at a resort at an exotic location right now. When the pictures starting showing up in my feed, I felt a momentary pang of jealousy that I can’t afford to take vacations like that. And then, I remember where the heck I am! I can’t afford to take vacations like that, but I can afford to port my life to amazing destinations!

I didn’t get to eat much yesterday, what with the schedule being as crazy as it was, and December money is going to be coming in very quickly. So I decided this morning that I had earned a splurge and went to Carmelita’s for lunch. I didn’t bring a book or device, choosing to instead sit outside and watch the ocean and the beach crowds and let my thoughts go any way they wanted.

My life is so simple and yet it affords me the luxury of being at a beach resort location on a gloriously warm and sunny day when it is grey and absolutely freezing back home. I might not be able to afford to vacation here, but I can live here and have an authentic experience of what it means to live in a country that is quite different from my own. I have no regrets.

I ordered a mineral water limonada (it was sweet this time, but not so much so as to be undrinkable), and one of the most expensive things on the menu, the shrimp quesadillas. They turned out be more like my idea of a shrimp taco, but in flour tortillas, with the shrimp so sweet and chewy and non-fishy that I was momentarily overwhelmed by their succulent flavour. I actually wondered if I had ever in my life tasted something so incredibly delicious. Seriously. I must be really bored with my cooking!

I took my time savouring each delightful bite, worked my way through most of the bowl of pico de gallo as well as sides of rice and beans, and sipped my drink slowly enough that the ice had time to melt.

The server has seen me a few times and we talked a little today about where I’m staying here and where I’m from. He tries to serve me in English, but I’m adamant about responding in Spanish.

My meal came to a hefty 160 pesos and left a 25 peso tip. I could feed myself for a week on that, so I won’t be eating out again at a Gringo place for a while, but, really, it was just $15.25 and I pay exactly that for lunch at 121 in Assiniboia without batting an eyelash because it’s such good value.

December will be quite different from November if work keeps up the way it has. I’ll be able to get back into a more normal routine with evenings and days off. I’m planning to take the village panga to Maz on Saturday to find the Ley grocery store and I’d like to get into the habit of going to Maz at least once, if not twice, a week. It’s an inexpensive trip (just 16 pesos for residents on the village panga), so there’s no reason not to expand the boundaries of my Mexican home.

Six months sounds like such a long time, but I’m already about to start the first of only four complete months here on Isla. Time is going to go really, really fast. I know how easy it is to settle into a groove somewhere, thinking that there is plenty of time to see everything, and then it’s suddenly time to leave.

Speaking of Saturday, I will be going to the airport in the afternoon to pick up my new neighbour in the little suite. She is flying in from… Saskatchewan! I’ve had a good laugh about that! She has negotiated the use of the palapa and the washer, so my not-so-quiet existence here is about to come to an end and I may end up having to change my office setup since I look right out onto the palapa. But my new neighbour sounds great (we’ve been emailing) and she was here in my suite last year, so it’ll be nice to have someone who knows the ropes and her way around my landlady. 🙂

I feel so grateful to be here, to be bone tired while looking at coconut palms and iguanas running across the top of the garden wall instead of staring at my neighbour’s garage. I doubt I will ever stop being amused at having to dodge lizards in the hallway while en route to another part of the house, unlike having to chase mice hell bent on killing me (hantvirus!). I miss the quiet of my home back north, but otherwise am quite content here and not really missing anything.

My RVing years taught me to be at home everywhere. They have reduced a lot of the awe at being in a new exotic location because being somewhere new has become my new normal. I worry sometimes that I’m becoming a little jaded, but then I find myself spotting my first wild iguana or nearly getting clocked by a coconut falling out of a palm tree and I am so giddy and happy about the event that I know that I have not lost the ability to look at the world with a child’s eye.

I love my life.