City Tours

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First Amble in Mérida

After this morning’s post, I headed down Mérida’s famed Paseo de Montejo, a beautiful boulevard, to find the nearby Waldo’s to get a few more things for my place. I was really hoping to find ice cream quickly and was delighted when I got to the corner of my street and the busier 35 that a man on a peddle cart was headed my way. Could I be that lucky? Yes! He had ice cream cones! I flagged him down and asked what he had. Coconut ice cream. Yum! A small cone was just $10. It looks quite melty in the picture, but it wasn’t at all.

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I had to make a few turns until I got to the Paseo de Montejo.

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And crossed my first of several scary intersections. I do have to give kudos for there being crosswalks showing exactly where to risk your life and I actually found the drivers here more respectful of pedestrians than what I’m used to in Maz.

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It was scorching out, so this short tree covered stretch was welcome!

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I am literally around the corner from Walmart. Pity I don’t like Mexican Walmarts at all. I always come out feeling that they don’t have anything and what they do have is expensive.

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The next roundabout had some amazing rock work:

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I was apparently in the “historic monument zone.”

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Other side of the roundabout:

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I passed an establishment called Delorean. How many famous faces can you spot in the picture below? Front centre are the Beatles and way above them is Edgar Allan Poe. I suppose the name of the place rather explains the strange cast of characters. 🙂

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This Ford dealership is very likely going to be where I buy my next vehicle! What I want is 10,000CAD cheaper in Mexico and has options, like a manual transmission, that I can’t even get back in Canada.

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This mosaic was gorgeous:

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This restaurant has a menu written on the door in French:

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Oh, look, a pub! I’ll have to see if they’re open one of these evenings! I’ve missed living near a pub that I can walk to.

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Two and a half kilometres from home, I found this trifeca: a huge Waldo’s, an Office Deport, and a good Soriana-style grocery store. Of course, I can’t remember the name of said store now! Starts with an A!

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I went into Waldo’s and got a few things, then went to the grocery store to buy a pot and see what they were selling. They had hummus, but it’s labeled as “botana arabe” (Arabic snack) here. No, I didn’t buy any to try it. 🙂

I took one road over from Paseo de Montejo to get part of the way home and came across this gem. Too bad the tree seems to have died on them!

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As I approached my turnoff on Paseo de Montejo, I remembered that I have a garrafón of water coming, so I popped into Walmart to get a pump for it. They’re just $40, so I don’t mind picking one up and this way I know it’s clean. I checked out the kitchen wares and they were dismal. The pot I’d picked up was super cheap ($65) and there was nowhere near anything at that price for that quality at Walmart.

I got in and made a quick lunch (using my new pot!). I failed at finding a potential spot to have dinner tonight, so I need to get on Google for that. I’ve already walked at least 10KM today, so I hope to find somewhere nearby!

It’s really hot, but no worse than in Maz, and I’m used to the sun now so I don’t burn as easily, even through sunscreen. I’m just going to hang out here at the apartment for a bit and relax since I’m beat. Time to research some touristy stuff I could possibly do tomorrow. 🙂

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First Morning in Mérida

I didn’t sleep well last night, but that’s normal for being in an unfamiliar place. It was surprisingly quiet except for the odd train whistle that I think I could learn to live with. My street is a little cul-de-sac (calle cerrada/closed street) so there was no traffic and my apartment is well off the street anyway. The bed was surprisingly comfy, and very much so by Mexican standards, so that wasn’t a problem. I would have liked a blanket and not just a sheet because I prefer sleeping with some weight over me, but temperature-wise, I was comfortable. I went to bed just past midnight and gave up on sleep at 8:00.

First order of business was coffee. I’d brought my French press, pre-ground beans, and milk. The only thing available in which I could boil a small amount of water was an enameled pot, so I used that, knowing the handle would get really hot! I had to wash everything I used, mug, spoon, and pot, because they had been washed with a sponge that had seen better days. The water here smells pretty bad, almost mouldy. No idea if that’s because the tinaco needs a rinse or if it’s just a city water quality issue. I don’t drink it, so I’m not too concerned. I’ll do like at home (Isla) and make sure things are dry before I use them.

Coffee made, I enjoyed it on my deck off the bedroom. What a treat this space is! I’m going to spend a lot of time out here as it has the most comfortable chairs in the house. I have some proofing work to do while I’m here and what an office this space will make!

I had scoped out the neighbourhood using Google Maps, but was pretty sure that they didn’t have the exact apartment pinned down. I was right. What I saw on Google Map is Calle 36, the next street over, which is a main thoroughfare. This is where I live:

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You go through that door into a charming little courtyard with a tile floor and textured walls:

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I forgot to grab a picture of the courtyard, sorry. 🙂 There’s just a metal staircase leading up to an apartment.

My building is behind the one you see on the street. There’s a very narrow path leading to it. Much measuring would ensue if I had to buy furniture and appliances for this place!

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There are three apartments in my building. I’m on the second level and the third level has the roof as a terrace.

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My front door is at the top of the first flight of the spiral staircase.

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Inside, the layout is standard. Entrance/living room/kitchenette, short hallway with a bathroom behind the kitchen, and a huge bedroom at the back with an open closet.

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The little bit of orange in the kitchen and the dark brown mouldings make the white walls and floors a lot easier to stomach than my equally bland place on Isla. I’m surprised that I could see myself living in this space long-term! The bedroom is large enough to neatly separate into the two rooms I would need, but, of course, I wouldn’t have any guest quarters. But I’d consider coming back here when I start house hunting if I do end up doing so in this neighbourhood.

First order of business after coffee was getting some groceries. Both Google and Apple swore there is a Soriana five blocks away, but they both goofed. It was twenty blocks away. While they had the correct address, 514, they had the location at being around 415.

It was a pleasant enough walk there, the crowds increasing the closer I got to the 500 block. Getting around Mérida will be easy since all the streets are numbered. Odds go in one direction, evens in the other. All streets are well marked and most buildings have addresses on them.

Soriana was very small, just a food store, but it was adequate for my most immediate needs. I was glad to be in a familiar store where I could just grab the products I know and not have to over think things since it was very busy. I still need to go out to Waldo’s (which hopefully will be where Google says it is) to get some cheap cooking things since there isn’t even a decent spatula.

I schlepped home with only just what I could carry that far. I washed a few things and put together a very nice toasted ham, cheese, and tomato sandwich as my brunch. I had passed a few small loncherias where I could have grabbed breakfast, but I wasn’t that hungry until I’d worked up an appetite and was happy to baptise the kitchen I’ll be living with for a week.

One thing I need to sort out ASAP is water. I have some empty garrafons (5 gallon jugs), so I’m hoping there is an exchange system like on Isla. I go through a garrafon a week, so I’m much better off getting one of those than buying smaller water containers. I just sent my host a text asking about that and FINALLY added the Spanish keyboard to my iPhone. Should have done that sooner! Took only two seconds. *shakes head*

Oh, here’s a text from my host. Water can be bought from the tienda right at the corner, but if I can wait till 5:30, he’ll bring me one. I am not schlepping one of those things that far and up those stairs, plus I bought a litre for today, so I can wait! 🙂

First impressions of this part of Mérida? Quiet (quite a respite from bustling Isla, to be honest), clean, neat, walkable, with friendly locals. I’m just off of the main thoroughfare for this neighbourhood, Paseo de Montejo, and that’s where I’m headed next as I meander my way to where Waldo’s is supposed to be. I’m also going to scope out a spot to grab dinner tonight!

 

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Mission Not So Impossible

I had an adventure and a half this morning!

My riding friend Sue emailed yesterday to ask if I could go to town today to act as a translator. I cannot remember the last time I’ve been to town and could do very well with a few hours away from my desk, so I was glad for the excuse to take off. I met her at 9:30 this morning and got the scoop on what we were off to do.

By way of background, she’s friends with a guy named Rus who had come to Isla for a few weeks from Minnesota and stayed in the apartment next to him. I met him once and he’s super nice. Rus uses his iPad to take pictures and while in Maz one day he set it down and forgot it! He had years worth of pictures on it and was devastated. He put up reward posters in the area where he lost it (Centro between the Mercado and Olas Altas), but nothing came of it.

When he got home, he called Apple and they told him how to activate the Find My iPad feature so that a message would pop up on the lock screen saying the iPad is lost and giving contact information (I need to make sure I have that working on my own iOS devices!).

Incredibly enough, someone had turned the iPad in to the police!!!!! Soon as that notification showed up on the lock screen, a very lovely lady named Marisela who works for the police called Rus in Minnesota to let him know she had his iPad. Rus then asked Sue to go pick it up. Sue had other friends of hers call Marisela to get an address and then asked me to go with her to be a translator.

Which brings us to this morning. The information on a scrap of paper was almost meaningless to me, but I did understand that we were heading into the Juárez colonia. I said our best bet would be to give the paper to a pulmonía driver and see if he could figure it out. Our driver, Mario, looked at it for a bit and saw a street name. That was good enough for him and off we went. Sue and I go to Juárez regularly, so we knew we were in the right neighbourhood and not getting taken for a ride.

We got to the street and he asked a few people if they could get us to Marisela from the rest of the information on the paper. No. Sue had Marisela’s number and I had my phone with money on it so I asked Mario if he would speak to her if I dialed on my phone. Sure. He got hold of her and started with “Marisela? Good. I’m a pulmonía driver and I’ve got a couple of Gringos looking for you…” Sue and I got that bit and burst out laughing. He talked for a bit and said “Aaaaah” a lot, which was a good sign.

Mario hung up, handed me back the phone, and drove a couple more blocks to where we needed to be. We really were “right there” and we had made the right decision to trust a pulmonía driver. This is where we learned that we were going to a community police station for the first time! We were shocked! We’d already asked Mario to wait for us and had made it clear as we were driving around that we were prepared to pay, so he told us where he’d be waiting and wished us good luck.

I asked a police officer outside about Marisela, but he didn’t seem too keen to help. It was an older gentleman in civilian clothing sitting across from him who took pity on us and led us in to Marisela’s office.

Sue had been told to come with ID, so we figured she’d show her passport, get the iPad, and we’d be on our way. No. I have no idea how long we were in that stuffy room, but it was a while! Marisela got all of Sue’s details to make sure they matched up with her information, was happy to see her number on Sue’s phone in an email from Rus, and then asked us for Rus’ address and birthday. Hmmm… Thankfully, Sue’s phone is set up to call the States easily so she called him and left a message. He called right back with the missing information. Sue then had to sign for the iPad and, get this, give her thumb print! They were thorough! Finally, we had to pose for pictures together with the iPad and also with Marisela, probably for their Facebook page or bulletin board. Whew!

Sue was a bit stressed during all of this, but I was having a blast. One thing was clear, there was no way she would have made it without translator. As she said, she would have been driving around in aimless circles and it would have been a waste of her time and money.

The iPad finally secure in her purse, we headed out and Mario whisked us back to the Playa Sur embarcadero. We’d determined the trip would be worth $300 to Mario, which is what he quoted us when we arrived, but we gave him $400. The trip had started off with him being a little uneasy and very likely wondering if it would be worth his time, but he was laughing with us at the end and left very happy and sufficiently compensated for nearly two hours of his time.

As soon as we got to Sue’s place, she sent Rus a picture of us holding his iPad. He’s a happy guy!

The iPad’s not home yet, though, of course. Sue is taking it home to Lethbridge with her, where she will courier it to Rus in Minnesota. But it’s safe and sound for now and he’ll have it in about eight weeks.

The takeaway from this story is that there are some really good people out there. This happy ending would not have been possible without the good Samaritan turning the iPad in to the authorities. And Apple deserves some credit for having a method to get its devices home when they fall in the hands of good people.

It was an awesome morning. Thanks, Sue, for asking me to be your translator on this fun adventure!

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Coffee Run

Work is funny sometimes. I can have days like yesterday that I think are going to be quick, but instead run super late, and days like today that I think are going to be very full, but instead finish early.

As I signed off at 2:30, I realised that I had just enough time to run up to Rico’s for coffee beans, have a late taco lunch, and be home before dark without having to rush.

By the time I got to the bus stop at the Fishermen’s Monument, it was already 3:20 since the lancha ride was a a slow one. Traffic on Avenida del mar was at a standstill and I debated whether to go ahead with my plan or not. But a bus pulled up quickly, so I decided to get on and see how bad the ride up to the Golden Zone would be.

To my surprise, traffic felt a lot smoother in a vehicle than it did staring at the long line up of cars. I had a window seat, air conditioning, and my phone, so the ride felt like it took no time at all. I got off in front of the Santander bank and walked the half block or so to Rico’s.

I was a little disappointed when I saw that the Veracruz dark roast dispenser was empty, but I asked for confirmation that they were out and they weren’t! Someone was sent to the store room for my beans. When she came back out and started pouring them into the dispenser, the most wonderful aroma filled the air. I don’t even need to drink coffee for it to make me happy. 🙂

Next stop was tacos. I always go to Ta’Loco and decided to try another place just to have a point of comparison. Well, it wasn’t a mistake per se since even mediocre tacos are good, but I won’t be doing that again. The menu in badly translated English should have been my first clue that walking out would be a good idea. The salsas were watery and the meat had almost no seasoning and was over cooked. I’m making it sound really dismal, but it wasn’t terrible, just bland, not something I ever thought I’d say about tacos. So Ta’Loco it will be from now on.

I then popped into Thrifty’s for an ice cream (choco brownie, please) and walked towards the Rafael Buelna roundabout debating how I was going to get home. It was only 4:28 by this point! I really didn’t need to go to Mega, after which I would have taken a pulmonía, so grabbing a bus that would get me close-ish to the embarcadero sounded like my best option. And as I made my decision, I spotted the tourist bus (Sábalo-Centro) a block away.

Instead of getting off at the Fishermen’s Monument, I decided to stay on a bit longer and get off at the corner of Aquiles Serdán and Zaragoza so I could walk up Zaragoza, something I don’t think I’ve done yet this winter. There’s nothing special there, but it would be a welcome change of scenery.

I did a double take as I watched the TV on the bus and realised that the show was taking place in Montreal after noticing “à louer” (for rent) signs starting with the 514 area code! I did some research and learned it was “Les gags,” a “Candid Camera”-style show for which I guess no translation is needed!

Here’s my route. The red marker is the embarcadero, the green one is the Fishermen’s monument, the green line is the bus route past the monument, and the blue lines are my walks in each direction.

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I do save a little walking time with the Zaragoza route and could actually go that way to catch the bus at Benito Juárez, but all I’m saving are a few steps, not time to get up to the Golden Zone.

I passed the beach blanket vendor as I reached the end of Zaragoza, so we had a bit of a catch up during which I assured him that I wasn’t sick or dying, just not spending much time on the beach. Business has been so-so for him. It was neat running into someone I know while off my regular route.

The lancha ride home was much faster than the ride over and I got in as the sun was starting to set, reflecting brightly off the harbour, a beautiful end to the day.

It’s amazing how much ground I can cover in Maz in three hours using just my two legs and a couple of buses!

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Compromises

I had a reminder pop up today to have my landlady’s husband check my propane levels, based on last year’s usage. Instead of going over there empty-handed, I figured that I might as well bring the February rent at the same time. So I Skyped Scotiabank this morning to have them increase my withdrawal limit for just today so I could make a larger withdrawal and then headed into town.

It took several tries before I could make the withdrawal and I couldn’t even come close to the 10,000MXN I was hoping to take out, had enough for in CAD, and was still within my temporary withdrawal limit. The machine let me take out 6,000MXN and then a further 2,000MXN even though I had well over another 2,000MXN in the account. Anyway, no big deal since I have plenty of cash on hand. The larger withdrawal was more about reducing the amount of time I spend in line at the teller to change bills than actually needing the cash.

Thankfully, the lineup was short today. I asked for $100s and $200s. The teller held up a huge stack of $100s and said that giving me 70 of those would be easiest for her, which was fine by me. She counted a few bills out of her stack, then put the remainder in the money counting machine, which confirmed there were 70 bills. It was insanely quick. Those money counting machines are amazing.

I then headed down to the big Ley to get a few things, stopping at the Chinese restaurant for lunch. I did a huge shop at the beginning of January and only needed a few things, but they were quite heavy like almond milk, yoghurt (my favourite kind was on sale!), and hummus (they only had two containers left!). The shopping wasn’t quite enough to justify taking a pulmonía back to the embarcadero, but enough that I wasn’t relishing the 3KM walk there, plus the walk on this side.

My compromise was to walk to Ejército Mexicano and grab the first bus that would take me to the corner of Juan Carrasco and Gutiérrez-Nájera, cutting my walk fully in half. I waited all of 30 seconds for such a bus to show up and even with the fare having gone up a whopping 50 centavos (0.04CAD), I got my money’s worth out of my $7.50! I had the driver drop me after we crossed Gutiérrez-Nájera so I wouldn’t have to do so on foot, which meant going nearly an extra block before he could pull over. He double checked that I was where I wanted/needed to be before letting me off.

I shifted items around after a couple of minutes of walking, putting a few things in my purse so that I would be better balanced, and then it was then a pretty quick walk up to the embarcadero and then home.

I would need another winter here to really master the buses, but I’m pleased with how much more I’m using them this year. I love riding in a pulmonía and they are really rather inexpensive, but walking and taking the bus is healthier. Even with my bus ride today, I managed a more than 5KM walk, which, when you sit at a computer all day, is as good for the soul as it is for the body. I just notice things more when I’m walking then when I’m in a moving vehicle, plus you get all the smells. That dang churros vendor is going to ensnare me one day, I’m sure!