More Shopping

Yesterday we went in to Merida with upstairs neighbours I and N. We went to Costco and Sr. B and I finally!! got ourselves a membership.

Back in Canada, we live about 3 hours from the nearest Costco so we've never bothered to get a membership. Although plenty of folks from our town will make the drive, we can't be bothered. But the Costco in Merida has some things we like and, since the store is very accessible and a membership costs less here, we decided to go ahead and get one. It's funny how having this small card that says Mexico on it makes us feel more like part of the local community.

Today, neighbour Kris and I went uptown to the tourist market. I picked up a cute little summer dress for our g'daughter. She likes those ones with the shirred elastic top. I just hope she likes the colour I chose. She's 13 and a bit fussier than she was when she was younger...lol.

In March, I bought a beautiful salad sized bowl and a matching botana sized one. There was only the one small bowl at the time but today I found another one, so I picked it up.

I noticed something interesting at the market. As soon as Kris and I told the various vendors we dealt with that we lived in Progreso, their demeanor changed just a wee bit. They became warmer, friendlier. Not that they weren`t friendly in the first place, but there was a slight shift in how they interacted with us.

I also bought myself a couple of knit dresses that are styled like a tank top at the shoulders. Washed them up and put one on. Oh my goodness! They`re the next best thing to being naked. These are going to be great when it`s beastly hot.

Speaking of which, a norte is apparently in the forecast. The breeze picked up a bit late this afternoon, its chill portending the upcoming storm. The cooler temps and rain will be a nice respite from the heat of the past few days.

Last night we had a mosquito in the bedroom that we couldn`t find and murder. I awoke to a half dozen bites on my arms. The good news is that Ì seem to have finally developed a degree of tolerance to their bites. I don`t swell and itch anywhere near as badly as I did when we first started coming down. Tonight`s breeze will help keep them at bay. Fingers crossed that one didn`t sneak into our room during the day.

I've tried to post some photos but our internet connection is too slow and the page to load pics onto won`t come up.

A-Shopping We Will Go

Neighbour D was incredulous when I told her, last week, that I'd never been to the cruise ship markets so we made plans to go this morning. D has mad language skills and became fluent in Spanish in an amazingly short time so she's a good person to have around when dealing with situations requiring more than basic Spanish. She's able to converse with the vendors to let them know we're not cruisers so "please don't charge us tourist prices." I could say it but her fluency makes her sound more believable than if I tried to tell them.

There are two markets set up for the cruisers. One is set up just outside the Autoprogreso station. I don't know where the other one is but it seemed as though it was only a couple of blocks from the other one. We walked to it and I blindly followed D.

My goodness! What a selection of goodies! Some of it is the same old, same old but most of the tables had similar, but different, products. Jewellery, for instance. One had shells, one had beads, one had silver. Same with pottery, clothing, knick knacks. Same products but with many variations.

I bought 3 wooden carvings. These two are on the long wall that form the living room and kitchen.

The vendor told me what each of them represented. One is the god of love but I can't remember which one and I forget what god the other carving is of.

This guy got lots of attention as I walked around the market with him. Many other carving vendors wanted to look at him and asked what I paid for him. Check out his snake head foot. What you can't see is that he's carved on both sides. He's probably meant to be hung in a window or from the ceiling. He lives on a small, high space between the washroom and our bedroom.

He replaces this lovely painting that I received from Theresa . I've put it in the kitchen and it helps to fill another large space though I still need something else. It's a pretty big area, as you can see.

I also bought some small gifts for the grandkids.

We didn't get to all the stalls. D's daughter is visiting and came along, too. Between what we all bought, we were fairly loaded down. We travelled like the locals and hauled our treasures home on the bus.

I'm looking forward to going back on our next trip down.