Assiniboia

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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!

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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.

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The Chicken Lady!

I actually first heard about The Chicken Lady from my neighbours Charles and Caroline! Contessa and Croft confirmed that she exists. It was then up to me to find her.

I’m still behind on work, but needed a walk. Instead of going straight to the beach, I decided to go up my street and turn to emerge on the paved road right by the basketball court. I could then circle back around and come home by the beach. Well, I didn’t get that far. Soon as I reached the basketball court, I could smell chicken roasting!

So here’s the scoop on Isla’s chicken lady. She is set up on the paved street in a stand across from and right between the basketball court and the police station. She only sells chickens Saturdays and Sundays. BOO. I was hoping the days would be spaced out a bit more. Half a chicken is 50 pesos, a whole one is 100 pesos, not much better than I pay for a pre- roasted bird in Assiniboia, but still not expensive!

HOWEVER her birds are MUCH tastier and they are a full meal, coming with tomato rice (wonderful!), tortillas, and salsa. This is what 50 pesos (4.18CAD/3.69USD) gets you from Isla’s chicken lady:

IMGP0077

She had me confirm how much I wanted and that the quantity was worth 50 pesos. She then hacked my half of the bird into smaller pieces to see if they were cooked and put the pieces back on the grill since they weren’t.

I had time to watch the process since it took about 10 minutes for my half chicken to be deemed sufficiently cooked. She takes raw chickens (that looked perfectly fine with good colour) and soaks them in a brine, which gives them an amazing flavour throughout (not spicy, just a little salty and yummy). They then go on a HOT charcoal grill, eliminating most of the worries about her not washing her hands between touching raw and cooked chicken.

Once the chicken is cooked, she plates it with tongs and passes the plate to a non-chicken handling helper who adds a generous scoop of rice, several tortillas, and a bag of salsa (which I haven’t tried and am going to save for the bean burritos I’ll have tomorrow instead of tonight). The meal is then double bagged and passed to the customer who pays.

I came straight home with my treasure, or at least tried to, somehow making a wrong turn. I followed the sound of my neighbours’ dang roosters and eventually emerged near the RV park, about two Isla blocks from my place.

So my first Mexican street food!

And I must reiterate how yummy that dang chicken was. It was all I could do to only eat half while it was hot and put the rest in the fridge for later!

 

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I Love Mondays

It’s rare that I have anything significant waiting in my queue on a Monday morning since my clients are getting their week figured out. So when I’ve been burning the proverbial midnight oil, as I have in the last couple of weeks juggling a full work load and all the construction projects, I like that I can count on a quiet Monday to reboot my energy reserves.

I needed groceries, so I decided to spend a couple of hours in town today. I can’t wait to be in a location where such a plan could include visiting a museum, going to the movies, and other such activities. There’s really not much to do in Assiniboia, SK. I was tempted to get a manicure, though. 🙂

My first stop today was NAPA Auto Parts. I’ve been needing a new gas cap for my truck for weeks and resigned myself to the fact that those things are bloody expensive!!! The cheapest I found online was $25, plus shipping. I decided to try our local business first to see how much they’d charge for the part, if they had one. My timing was impeccable in that a gas cap to fit a 2000 Ford Ranger had come in this morning. However, it was still packed in one of 15 large boxes and I was asked if I could come back in a couple of hours. Yup. The cost was $25. At least I saved the shipping!

Next stop was Peavey Mart for a light source for the shed. I wanted one of those light bulb holders with a hook and long cord and Peavey Mart had the best price in town. Then, I had to find a light bulb to go with it. I haven’t had to buy regular light bulbs in at least six years. Wow are they expensive!

Then, it was off to The Bargain! Shop for paper towels. I’ve been here way too long to know who has the cheapest prices on such things. 🙂

From there, I parked ‘downtown’ and went to the bank to get a money order to pay for the latest gravel order since I was out of cheques. Boy have those things gotten expensive! I used to get money orders (and cheques) free with my account. Service fees keep going up, service keeps going down…

The Salvation Army is across the street from the bank, so I went over to look for pajamas and warm tops. I barely got to wear any of my summer clothes and now I’m already looking for cold weather gear. 🙁 🙁 🙁 There wasn’t much in the store today, but I did find what I wanted AND it was all 20% off!

By this point, it was lunchtime, so I headed to Trifon’s Pizza. Their pizza is very good and they have a deal for a tiny one with a salad that is just a perfect lunch portion. I like that they serve hazelnut coffee!

Groceries were next. I didn’t buy much since I’m leaving for Quebec next week for a week, and then I’ll be leaving for eight months shortly after that, so I need to get through my stores.

My final stop before returning to NAPA was the post office to mail the money order. At NAPA, the gas cap was waiting at the till for me and it was indeed the correct one. I actually contacted Ford to find out how much one of their gas caps would be and I forget the exact figure, but it was upwards of $40!

Now, I’m home and enjoying a quiet afternoon picking away at a few small jobs due tonight. I was going to do laundry, but we didn’t get any sun today and it’s spitting. We’re entering a cold snap, so it’s a good week for typing. The weekend will be nice to wrap up my Haven projects.

Now, exciting news to cap off a boring post: my friend Jody is en route and will be spending the night at Haven! Talk about a great way to end a perfect Monday!

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Roofing the Cabin

Tuesday, Charles and I started work on roofing the cabin. SaskPower had promised to come move the neighbour’s power line out of the way Thursday and Friday so we wanted a head start and we did what we could away from the line, which was a lot more than expected. We got about 95% of the shingles off and about 80% of the strapping on.

Wednesday, I went to town for more lumber and hardware while Charles built a door for the shed. It then rained like the dickens all day. Everything inside the cabin is soaked in mud. 🙁

SaskPower came by late in the day to lift the wire using a telescoping insulated pole. The forecast for Thursday wasn’t great and the tech was worried we wouldn’t have enough time to do the roofing, so this gave us the weekend since he could leave the pole there till Monday. I would have preferred to have the wire completely out of the way, but this was a satisfactory solution. I continue to be impressed by the level of service I get from SaskPower.

Today, Thursday, Charles was at Haven bright and early. It was a very cold and windy start to the day, but we were able to finish strapping by late morning. We then got to work hanging the shed door.

I’d like to point out that I actually do work on the roof! I was right up there with Charles at the peak pounding in nails and I must have been up and down at least twenty times to fetch things. I also do all the measuring and cutting of the lumber using his chop saw.

We broke for lunch and then T came over to help us with installing the tin. We were able to put on a full eight sheets before Charles called it quits. He had the hardest position, right on the roof balancing on the pieces of strapping, so his legs were getting shaky.

Today was the first time I actually screwed in any tin. The way the chores have been divvied up, I never got a chance to try it. The tin comes with matching screws that you pay an arm and a leg for and which have a washer. The way to get them screwed in with the tools available to us is to first pound them into the tin with a hammer, just to get them started, and then we use a drill with a socket bit on them. It goes very quickly!

T won’t be available till after lunch tomorrow, so Charles will come over a little later in the morning to finish work on the shed door (adding interior stops). We should be able to finish putting on the tin tomorrow, but I expect that the ridge cap will eat up part of Saturday.