Friends, Food and Festivities

This morning I went uptown with Bindi and J, a lady who's renting one of the condos in the complex. J got a haircut and Bindi got some lowlights. While Bindi's colour was processing, J and I went looking for boric acid to help in the fight against the carpenter ants. We went to 5 or 6 pharmacies but nobody had any.

While I was gone, Owen came over and helped Señor B with a few things that needed doing. He added a little latch to the screen door, changed the lightbulb in the laundry room and added the sweep to the bottom of the door. Owen and Bindi are great neighbours...so friendly and willing to lend a helping hand. We couldn't have gotten better neighbours if we'd asked.

Señor B and I went down to the pool in the afternoon. I came up early to prepare the dish I was making for the potluck that had been planned. I made a fish stir fry that was pretty good, if I do say so myself...lol. Someone had cooked up a couple of fish from the excursion the other day. I'm not a big fish fan and I'm already about fished out from Señor B's catch. Someone else had brought chicken burgers for which I was grateful.

Supper finished up early because several of us wanted to go down to the town square to watch the crowning of the Carnival queen and king. Afterwards, there was onstage entertainment. During one of the songs, 3 young girls were brought onstage to dance with the female entertainer. One of the girls, who couldn't have been more than 5 or 6, completely stole the show with her booty shaking dancing that is typical of Latin America. The singer asked her where she had learned to dance like that and the girl replied, "From the tv."

I bought some churros from a street vendor who was at the square. Churros are soo good. A while back I found a recipe online. They call for regular ingredients so I can make them myself.

I spoke too soon about the ants. Last night, I killed a couple before I went to bed and Señor B said there were about a dozen in the condo this morning.

Re the bug bites; I bought some lidocain at the pharmacy this morning. It's supposed to help with the itch. Oddly enough, the itch is worst in the morning and in the evening. During the day it's almost a non-issue. My feet and ankles are still a bit puffy even though it's been 48 hours since I took that one dose of ChlorTripolon. Weird.

They're Gone

The girls have left. It sure is quiet around here now. And tidy. No towels and bikinis drying over the back of the kitchen chairs.

We left here shortly after 8am. Missed the turnoff to the airport and had to turn around. It was another 5 or 6 minutes to the next retorno which wasn't really a retorno. It was an asphalt road but it was quite overgrown. Didn't matter. We were just happy we didn't have to go back 100km to the toll booth.

Got to the airport about 1.5 hours before their flight. Got them checked in and then said our goodbyes at the "Passengers Only" gate. They were going to try to grab a bite to eat. I hope they succeeded. YD is an extremely slow eater. I told them to make sure they got themselves some snacks for the plane.

We had lunch at the airport and then left. Señor B's amazing sense of direction failed him again. I told him we needed to head back to Playa del Carmen to find our turnoff. He disagreed. Long story short, he finally decided to turn back since we weren't seeing any signs to Mérida and try the Playa route. It worked. Man, I like it when I'm right...lol.

Then we missed the turn off to Progreso but we managed to get turned around and on the right road. We got home just before 6:30. We figure we drove close to 800km today.

It spit rain off and on the whole day and we returned to Progreso to see some pretty large puddles. They must have received a lot today. This is the first rain we've seen since we arrived 2 weeks ago.

The satellite TV has been turned on so Señor B is in heaven.

I've been keeping track of their flight status online (a mom never quits worrying) and their connecting flight left on time. Hopefully they were on it.

I'm going to see a doc tomorrow morning about that bug bite. My foot is still puffy. I did some googling and I learned some things that have me concerned. I know google isn't always the final authority but I'd still  like the peace of mind.

Despite México's reputation for being a third world country, they really do have excellent medical care. Many of their doctors train in the US and can speak English. I'm not the least bit concerned about anything going wrong.

Girls' Last Day

Good news about the bug bites. The redness and blue colour were gone when I got up this morning. The swelling in my leg has gone down a lot. But now my foot is a bit puffy. Nothing alarming, just enough to be noticeable. Keeping an eye on that.

The girls wanted to spend their last day here at the tourist beach this morning. The sun was warm and the breeze off the gulf was refreshing. Listening to the waves on the shore is so soothing. I love it here. I wish I didn't have to go home next week.

The tourist beach is along the malecón, a brick walkway that runs for many blocks along the shoreline. On one side of the malecón is a street lined with restaurants. On the other is the beach. Several of the restaurants have palapas with tables and chairs beneath them. They'll serve you drinks right on the beach. I'm not sure about food, but I expect they do.

We chose to sit near some palapas so we could hide in the shade if we got too hot. A bunch of local birds (some scavenger type similar to our seagulls) swooped down to join us. They were looking for handouts. YD decided to play a trick on them. She tossed a small shell up in the air and one of the birds caught it. And promptly spit it out. She did this several times and each time a bird would dive in for the catch. Stupid birds. We had fun imagining what they were saying. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" "Hey. I saw that first." "Yuck. What's this crap she's trying to feed us." We're easily amused...lol.

We decided to have some lunch at Los Arcos. We all had chicken fajitas which we enjoyed. Too many green peppers and onions for my preference but tasty enough. I picked out the peppers and onions and gave them to Señor B.

Off to the store for a few things and then back to the condo. We did some housecleaning and then headed down to the pool for the afternoon.

I had planned on ham steaks for supper but the girls didn't want that so they and Señor B went to Domino's and picked up a couple of pizzas. They were very tasty. I don't know what they use for a sauce but it wasn't tomato based like what we're used to. I quite enjoyed it as did YD. They also picked up some potato wedges that were really good and something that smelled like apple pie. It was a surprise to open the box and see a loaf of sugared bread instead.

As we were eating, our neighbour, L, stopped by with some strawberry cheesecake that she'd made, as a farewell offering to the girls. It was delicious. Even Picky Chicky liked it.

Tomorrow we're driving the girls to Cancún in the morning and then coming back after. It'll be a long day. They both said they enjoyed their time here but YD said it would have been more fun if they'd met some younger people. But she did acknowledge that we had warned them they were coming to a place with mostly "old" people.

It's been around 30C the whole time we've been here but it's supposed to be something like -27C when the girls land at home. I hope YD's car will start.

Trip to Merida

Señor B and I went to pick up a few groceries this morning. You can buy liquor in the grocery stores here. The store we frequent has a whole aisle dedicated to it. It's just so weird to see booze along with the groceries. But they're not allowed to sell it before 11am so if you're planning on picking some up, you have to make sure you're checking out after 11. Just another one of those cultural differences that makes us smile.

Something else you can buy here...3 litre bottles of coke. I'm in heaven!

Then the girls and I took the AutoProgreso bus into Mérida. We wanted to buy some authentic Mayan items, not any of that tourist dime-a-dozen crap that you can find just about anywhere. Our neighbour told us where we could find a market that was Mayan vendors who come from out of town every weekend, but we didn't see them.

We stopped at the tourist information centre and the gal there seemed less than happy to help us. Her surly face and complete lack of enthusiasm was quite off-putting. She sent us to some bazaar but it was all that tourist junk.

So we went back to the Gran Plaza which is the main square in Centro, the area of Mérida that we were in. Some guy started talking to us and took us to a store that sold Mayan stuff. We thanked him and looked around but didn't see anything that we wanted to buy.

So back to the Plaza. Another guy took us to another store. He said that, for the opportunity to practice his English, he wasn't going to charge us for taking us there. We were a bit dumbstruck. Were we supposed to tip these guys? The first guy was still so very gracious when he left us, even though we didn't give him anything. Knowing when it's customary to tip is still a challenge to us. We don't mean to be rude by not tipping. We're just not always sure when it's expected and when it's not.

Anyways, we still didn't see anything we wanted and we were getting hungry, so we went for lunch. We went to the same restaurant that I went to for the bloggers conference. Las Vigas. Good food and the owner speaks English. I had the Tex Mex enchiladas and the girls both had lasagne. We got a pitcher of lemonade to share. Total cost was 184 pesos, or a bit less than $18.00 For the 3 of us!

Then we took the bus back to Progreso. It was a wasted trip, shopping wise, but it was an outing. I'm so disappointed we didn't find the market we had hoped for. I know that I had said Monday was Méxican Revoltion Day but today is actually the day. In México, when the holiday falls on the weekend, they tend to make the Monday just prior, the day off. There was to be a big festival in Gran Plaza tonight so I'm wondering if the vendors weren't allowed to set up today. Our neighbour had said the vendors are there until late in the evening but if there were other things going on, maybe they couldn't be there. I have no idea. I'll have to ask her.

My bug bites... The one on my thigh is ok. The one on my leg...well...I might go see a doc tomorrow. The chlortripolon that L gave me has worked wonders for the itch. The swelling is down a bit but the redness is increasing. My entire calf is red from my knee to my ankle and it's wrapping itself further and further around my leg. Plus, I have a blue-ish area at the top of my calf that looks like a bruise. It's just so weird that it might be worth having it looked at. We'll see what it's like in the morning.

Of Beaches and Bugs

Yesterday morning, the guy came to paint the repairs. He even touched up some smudges that had happened through normal wear and tear. There were a few brown smudges on the pale yellow wall from when we'd had the closet made and put into the closet space. He painted over those and the room looks so much nicer. I snagged a bit of paint from him for doing touch ups later.

Adriana, the lady who was coming to look at the blinds, had said she would be at the condo by 3pm or earlier. We left her an email saying if we weren't home she could get a key from L & M.

The area we're in is called the Flamingo Coast so we took the girls for a drive to go see them. Unfortunately, there weren't many out so we didn't get good pics. We found out, later, that there are tours so we might do that on Sunday.

We arrived at the condo just as Adriana was leaving. The blinds work now. They still stick a little bit but at least we can open them now.

Señor B and I spent the rest of the afternoon down at the pool visiting with L & M. Then we went up to their place and had a bite to eat, as well as a few drinks.

Today, Señor B wasn't feeling too well after his partying last night. Poor guy. He didn't have very much to drink but the older he's getting, the less he's able to hold his liquor.

We had promised to take the girls to the tourist beach today but he wasn't feeling up to it so we girls walked over. It took us about 35 minutes. We decided to have some lunch once we got there. Then YD wrote "México 10" in the sand and got BF to take some pics of her. BF didn't want her pic taken. She was cold and had herself wrapped up tightly in her towel.

A norte (cool winds from the north) blew in yesterday and, though the sun was shining today, the wind made it cool. The girls decided it was too cold to hang out at the beach. So we walked over to the pharmacy to get some cream for the bug bites I got last night and then walked home.

I wore my sandals which are very comfortable but they're not designed for walking as much as we did. I have a blister on the pad of my foot near my big toe. We're planning on going in to Mérida tomorrow to do some shopping. I hope my blister doesn't give me problems. I'll be smarter and wear my sneakers, this time.

About those bug bites I got last night. omg! I don't know what kind of critter is playing such havoc on my legs. This morning they were swollen and warm to the touch. The one on my thigh is bad enough but the one on my calf is horrendous. It's so swollen the skin is taut and feels like it wants to split. The redness and swelling covers my entire calf and wraps about halfway around my leg. I can barely bend my leg tighter than 90 degrees. Oddly enough, it's only itchy at the perimeter of the swelling. L gave me some Chlortripolon and some cream that worked well for M. If it doesn't start looking better in a couple days, I might go see a doc.

Pool Day

This morning the girls and I went shopping in downtown Progreso. There is a huge market place where you can buy just about anything. They have everything from fruits and vegetables to a shoe repair place. The girls would really like to go to a market where the wares are produced by the vendors but I have no idea where to find such a market.

We spent about 3 hours shopping at the market as well as going to some of the local stores. YD found a cute little party dress that looked great on her except it was too long in the body for her. It would have been a difficult alteration so she had to put it back.

Señor B stayed at the condo to wait for the guy who was supposed to come at 11am and do some more work so we took a cab back to the condo. When we got back, Señor B told us he'd received an email saying the guy wasn't coming until 5pm.  It's annoying when people don't come when they say they will but at least we got an email letting us know. We did appreciate that. It allowed us to go hang out at the pool all afternoon.

It was really hot today. Someone said it was about 86F. No idea what that is in Celcius but I know it's hot. The girls sure enjoyed the floaty pool mattresses I bought for them today. We talked to Eldest Daughter today and she told us the windchill back home was -22C. She didn't feel too sorry for us when we told her we were so hot we felt like melting...lol.

The girls had planned on going to what I call the tourist beach, this afternoon. The beach close to the condo is ungroomed and, apparently, not good enough for them. The "tourist beach" is up near the pier and is groomed up all pretty for the folks who come in on the cruise ships. 'Course, when I was 20-something, I probably would have preferred the groomed beach, too. The plan had been that Señor B would drop them off and they would walk back, since we had to be at the house for the repair guy. It's probably about a 30 minute walk. But we were so hot when we got back from shopping that they decided to do the beach another time.

I've been getting bug bites all over my lower legs and I look like I've got some horrible skin disease. Nobody else is getting bitten, though. Tonight, I realized that I'm the only one drinking Coke. Wonder if it changes my blood chemistry and makes my blood tastier. Even if that's the case, I'm not giving up my Coke. I just need to remember to bug spray my legs whenever I go out in the evening.