This afternoon I went to a Pampered Chef party at D's place. D lives on the floor above us. It was your typical PC party. Lots of good food and good company. If I understood D correctly, Aura is the first consultant in the area. And, wouldn't you know, I forgot to get her info to pass along to my Yucatan readers. Aura speaks pretty good English but her accent and rapid speech got in the way of me being able to understand her well.
Since we share our condo with others, I didn't want to buy any larger, pricier items and risk having them spirited away, so I puchased a couple of small items. I'm a consultant for Princess House so it was a bit awkward to attend since we pretty much compete directly with each other. Still, they have items we don't and I wanted to support a fellow female entrepreneur.
In other news, we went uptown today to pick up a few groceries and to see if our bank card would work. We went to a different bank from the first 2 and we were successful in making a withdrawal. Hurray! And we were smart enough to go early in the morning to beat the heat. We were back at the condo by 10:30.
The bank we went to is near the big green building I mentioned the other day which is called City Hall, not the Municipal Building. I discovered that the school isn't housed within. It's actually in a building right beside it. That's why I got confused. I will try to be a better reporter.
The internet was down last night but you all didn't miss anything. The highlight of the day was spending the evening with another couple in the complex. Fun for us but not really worth writing about. Oh, wait. I just did...lol.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Best Day Ever
Well, in the top 10, anyways.
Yesterday, we were introduced to Sochi. Not sure of the spelling but it's pronounced so (like toe) chee. Sochi does massages, manicures and pedicures so we set up appointments for full body massages at 10am today. She asked if we were allergic to anything or if we had metal parts. She uses a magnetic something-or-other and needed to know.
Sochi lives a couple of blocks down the street from here. Friends had told her they would pick her up but they forgot. Oops. She doesn't have a vehicle so she loaded her folding table onto a hand truck and rolled it over. What a gal! She's known within the complex so someone let her in the gate. Her cheery, "Hola. Buenos dias!" at the door let us know she'd arrived.
We moved the kitchen table to make room for her bed and she went to work. ohmygoodness. She's amazing! She uses scented oils which was intriguing. She started with a menthol smelling one, moved on to a lavender one and then used something very warming on my bum shoulder. I was so relaxed and "into" the whole thing that I didn't think to ask her what she was using. I have to get a monthly massage at home to keep myself limber enough to continue working, and hers was as good as any I've had. Senor B enjoyed his massage, as well.
Sochi showed me a couple of exercises to do for my shoulder and one for Senor B for his neck. She doesn't speak much English but we managed to understand each other.
Our massages were about an hour and twenty minutes each. Wonderful fragrances and a couple exercises to do. All done in the comfort of our home. For the fabulous price of 250 pesos/$19CDN each. We gave her 600 pesos/$46CDN for the two of us. My massage back home costs me $80 for one hour. No fragrances and I have to do the travelling.
We're going to try and book her before we go back.
Yesterday, we were introduced to Sochi. Not sure of the spelling but it's pronounced so (like toe) chee. Sochi does massages, manicures and pedicures so we set up appointments for full body massages at 10am today. She asked if we were allergic to anything or if we had metal parts. She uses a magnetic something-or-other and needed to know.
Sochi lives a couple of blocks down the street from here. Friends had told her they would pick her up but they forgot. Oops. She doesn't have a vehicle so she loaded her folding table onto a hand truck and rolled it over. What a gal! She's known within the complex so someone let her in the gate. Her cheery, "Hola. Buenos dias!" at the door let us know she'd arrived.
We moved the kitchen table to make room for her bed and she went to work. ohmygoodness. She's amazing! She uses scented oils which was intriguing. She started with a menthol smelling one, moved on to a lavender one and then used something very warming on my bum shoulder. I was so relaxed and "into" the whole thing that I didn't think to ask her what she was using. I have to get a monthly massage at home to keep myself limber enough to continue working, and hers was as good as any I've had. Senor B enjoyed his massage, as well.
Sochi showed me a couple of exercises to do for my shoulder and one for Senor B for his neck. She doesn't speak much English but we managed to understand each other.
Our massages were about an hour and twenty minutes each. Wonderful fragrances and a couple exercises to do. All done in the comfort of our home. For the fabulous price of 250 pesos/$19CDN each. We gave her 600 pesos/$46CDN for the two of us. My massage back home costs me $80 for one hour. No fragrances and I have to do the travelling.
We're going to try and book her before we go back.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Productive Day
This morning we went uptown to exchange our rental money (USD) to pesos so we have money for now. Senor B tried to call our bank in Canada, via MagicJack, but he didn't have a very good connection so nothing got accomplished. Based on info we've been given about some banking glitches and procedures, we're (naively, perhaps?) confident that our situation is temporary. We're optimistic that everything will work out.
Then we went to pay our taxes at the big green building, whose name I don't remember, at the main square. I think it's called the Municipal Building, but I'm not certain. We can see that there are different things housed within its colourful walls but the only ones we can identify are the tax office and a school.
I've found that a good ice-breaker is to say, "Lo siento. Mi espanol no es bueno." "I'm sorry. My Spanish isn't good." It always makes people smile. Maybe I'm saying it all wrong and it amuses them? Anyways, they're always very helpful and patient. So I said this to the lady at the tax office as I produced the cedula catastral, the legal document needed to pay taxes. She smiles and says, "No problem," as she takes the papers. She does her calculations, writes the fee on a sticky note and hands it all back to me. Then it's over to the cashier to make payment.
I believe taxes have to be paid by the end of Feb to avoid penalty. I have no idea if we incurred a penalty or not. We paid 263.63 pesos/$20.41CDN. Twenty bucks! For the year! If we got penalized, well, we're sure not gonna complain.
Then we walked around downtown a bit. Senor B wanted to get himself a tank top. Our friend, Dave, who came down with us in Nov, said they're much cooler to wear than a t-shirt. Senor B and I have known each other for 26 years and I've never seen him wear a tank top. He's really been stepping out of his comfort zone as he's getting older. These shirts are colloquially known as wife-beaters but, lest I use a term that isn't in favour, I Googled and learned that they're also called A-shirts, the A standing for Athletic. Ummm...Senor B and athletic in the same sentence? Ummm...sure. Why not? LOL.
A quick stop at the market to pick up a few veggies and then it was back to the condo.
On our way out this morning, we had planned on going to Bodega to get groceries, as well. At the front gate we met up with D, who lives on the upper floor. He had errands to run this afternoon and offered to take us to the store so we took him up on that.
I've read, on other blogs, that you can call it a good day if you get 2 things accomplished. We got 5. I think we may have set a record. *grin*
Then we went to pay our taxes at the big green building, whose name I don't remember, at the main square. I think it's called the Municipal Building, but I'm not certain. We can see that there are different things housed within its colourful walls but the only ones we can identify are the tax office and a school.
I've found that a good ice-breaker is to say, "Lo siento. Mi espanol no es bueno." "I'm sorry. My Spanish isn't good." It always makes people smile. Maybe I'm saying it all wrong and it amuses them? Anyways, they're always very helpful and patient. So I said this to the lady at the tax office as I produced the cedula catastral, the legal document needed to pay taxes. She smiles and says, "No problem," as she takes the papers. She does her calculations, writes the fee on a sticky note and hands it all back to me. Then it's over to the cashier to make payment.
I believe taxes have to be paid by the end of Feb to avoid penalty. I have no idea if we incurred a penalty or not. We paid 263.63 pesos/$20.41CDN. Twenty bucks! For the year! If we got penalized, well, we're sure not gonna complain.
Then we walked around downtown a bit. Senor B wanted to get himself a tank top. Our friend, Dave, who came down with us in Nov, said they're much cooler to wear than a t-shirt. Senor B and I have known each other for 26 years and I've never seen him wear a tank top. He's really been stepping out of his comfort zone as he's getting older. These shirts are colloquially known as wife-beaters but, lest I use a term that isn't in favour, I Googled and learned that they're also called A-shirts, the A standing for Athletic. Ummm...Senor B and athletic in the same sentence? Ummm...sure. Why not? LOL.
A quick stop at the market to pick up a few veggies and then it was back to the condo.
On our way out this morning, we had planned on going to Bodega to get groceries, as well. At the front gate we met up with D, who lives on the upper floor. He had errands to run this afternoon and offered to take us to the store so we took him up on that.
I've read, on other blogs, that you can call it a good day if you get 2 things accomplished. We got 5. I think we may have set a record. *grin*
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sunday Tradition
Today was pretty uneventful but my fans back home always want to know what we're up to, so here goes.
There's a little tienda, or corner store, just across the street from the complex. Every Sunday morning, there's a young couple who come with pibil, or pulled pork. They're set up with a metal serving area, like you'd see in a buffet. It's got the recessed area where the meat is, with a warmer to keep things hot. They start selling fairly early, around 9am. We can see them from the stair area so, when it's getting close to 9, we take a look-see to see if they're set up yet. When I checked, I could see people there so I strolled on over. It looked as though they'd been open for a little while because they had less than they usually do. I guess we'll have to start checking on them a little earlier.
The gal weighs out the meat based on what you tell her you want to spend. You can also buy bread and a small bag of chopped onions and habanero sauce is included, if you want them. We pass on the hot sauce...lol. We get the 50 peso bag. It seems to me that the bag was smaller than it was in Nov and the bread was 50 centavos more, each. I hope we weren't victims of "gringo pricing". We got the bag of meat and 3 loaves of bread, each about a foot long, for 59 pesos/$4.60CAN, which was enough for both of us for lunch and one for supper so it's still an excellent price. And it's omg-delicious. This is going to become a Sunday tradition.
It was windy and cool today. I had to put on pants and a sweater. Ok, folks at home are wondering how cold could it possibly be. True, it's way warmer here than there but that north wind off the Gulf is right chilly. And it was a strong wind so, yeah, it wasn't an overly pleasant day. Since it was too miserable to go anywhere, I took care of housework...laundry, sweeping, mopping and all that other mundane stuff. Just like I would do if it was a snow day back home.
There's a little tienda, or corner store, just across the street from the complex. Every Sunday morning, there's a young couple who come with pibil, or pulled pork. They're set up with a metal serving area, like you'd see in a buffet. It's got the recessed area where the meat is, with a warmer to keep things hot. They start selling fairly early, around 9am. We can see them from the stair area so, when it's getting close to 9, we take a look-see to see if they're set up yet. When I checked, I could see people there so I strolled on over. It looked as though they'd been open for a little while because they had less than they usually do. I guess we'll have to start checking on them a little earlier.
The gal weighs out the meat based on what you tell her you want to spend. You can also buy bread and a small bag of chopped onions and habanero sauce is included, if you want them. We pass on the hot sauce...lol. We get the 50 peso bag. It seems to me that the bag was smaller than it was in Nov and the bread was 50 centavos more, each. I hope we weren't victims of "gringo pricing". We got the bag of meat and 3 loaves of bread, each about a foot long, for 59 pesos/$4.60CAN, which was enough for both of us for lunch and one for supper so it's still an excellent price. And it's omg-delicious. This is going to become a Sunday tradition.
It was windy and cool today. I had to put on pants and a sweater. Ok, folks at home are wondering how cold could it possibly be. True, it's way warmer here than there but that north wind off the Gulf is right chilly. And it was a strong wind so, yeah, it wasn't an overly pleasant day. Since it was too miserable to go anywhere, I took care of housework...laundry, sweeping, mopping and all that other mundane stuff. Just like I would do if it was a snow day back home.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Cultural Adjustments
We finally rolled into Progreso last night at about 7:30pm after being on the go for 36 hours. Senor B worked on Thursday and we left shortly after he got home. It's a 3 hour drive to the airport, overnight flight to our connecting city, layover, flight to Cancun, bus ride to Merida and half hour taxi to Progreso. We were beat when we got to the condo and the general lack of sleep (cuz, really...who can sleep on a plane?) made us a little testy towards each other.
On our first flight, we flew with a crew that we'd flown with in November. It made us remark, "You know you're a frequent flyer when..." *grin*
My Spanish lessons paid off during our taxi ride when I was able to direct the driver to our place. It was pretty cool to be able to do that. I have a long way to go before I can say I'm even close to being proficient but being able to communicate, even in a limited capacity, makes me feel a lot less helpless.
We went uptown this morning to go to the bank and get a few groceries. Banking didn't go so well. The bank we usually go to wouldn't process our transaction. We both tried our debit cards without any luck. So we went across the street to another bank. Same thing. The only thing we can think of is that we forgot to let our bank know we were coming and they were denying the transaction. But we haven't always let them know and haven't had any problems before so we're confused. Senor B sent our bank an email so we'll see if it gets straightened out. Fortunately, we had some cash on us so we were still able to get some groceries.
Since we're not renting a vehicle we can't do a big shop like we did in the past. We picked up enough for the day plus a few other items that won't be needed each trip. Things like mayo, butter, olives. We'll have to make more frequent and smaller trips than we're used to. It's just one of those little adjustments to be made when living in another culture. And, hey, it's not like we have a whole lot of anything else to do...lol.
When we had an air-conditioned car, we would run errands whenever the mood hit. Now that we don't have that luxury, we decided that running errands earlier than 11am would be a smart thing. We were gone 2 hours and were about roasted when we got back. Another cultural adjustment to make.
There are 3 little corner stores near us so we can always go there to pick up a few things, too.
Temp today was 35C so that meant a trip to the pool in the afternoon. It was great seeing old friends and meeting some new ones.
On our first flight, we flew with a crew that we'd flown with in November. It made us remark, "You know you're a frequent flyer when..." *grin*
My Spanish lessons paid off during our taxi ride when I was able to direct the driver to our place. It was pretty cool to be able to do that. I have a long way to go before I can say I'm even close to being proficient but being able to communicate, even in a limited capacity, makes me feel a lot less helpless.
We went uptown this morning to go to the bank and get a few groceries. Banking didn't go so well. The bank we usually go to wouldn't process our transaction. We both tried our debit cards without any luck. So we went across the street to another bank. Same thing. The only thing we can think of is that we forgot to let our bank know we were coming and they were denying the transaction. But we haven't always let them know and haven't had any problems before so we're confused. Senor B sent our bank an email so we'll see if it gets straightened out. Fortunately, we had some cash on us so we were still able to get some groceries.
Since we're not renting a vehicle we can't do a big shop like we did in the past. We picked up enough for the day plus a few other items that won't be needed each trip. Things like mayo, butter, olives. We'll have to make more frequent and smaller trips than we're used to. It's just one of those little adjustments to be made when living in another culture. And, hey, it's not like we have a whole lot of anything else to do...lol.
When we had an air-conditioned car, we would run errands whenever the mood hit. Now that we don't have that luxury, we decided that running errands earlier than 11am would be a smart thing. We were gone 2 hours and were about roasted when we got back. Another cultural adjustment to make.
There are 3 little corner stores near us so we can always go there to pick up a few things, too.
Temp today was 35C so that meant a trip to the pool in the afternoon. It was great seeing old friends and meeting some new ones.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Writing my Spanish 10 Final
Today, which still feels like tomorrow because I haven't yet gone to bed from Monday, I'll be writing my Spanish 10 final. I've been doing it through a distance learning school, what we used to call "by correspondence" back in the day.
If I had been 21 or younger, it would have cost me far less than the $500 they charge students over 21. You get a full year to complete the course. For my $500 I'm provided a teacher who I can call or email if I have questions. Lessons are submitted electronically, marked and sent back to me via the school's Dropbox. I can also submit the oral part electronically but I'm a dinosaur and have no idea how to do that, so I call the marker (not the same person as the teacher) and do it over the phone. I'm sure there are cheaper ways to learn Spanish but I need the structure of a class setting.
Arranging to write the exam has been a logistical nightmare. I requested it to be sent post mail. The local school I was having it sent to (I have to be in a supervised setting) gave me their street address which isn't the same as their mailing address. Small town = post office box. After 10 days, it still hadn't arrived and I had a devil of a time trying to track it down. Turns out it got sent back because of the wrong address.
So they've had to send it electronically. Today is absolutely the last day I have to write it. I have to have the course completed by Wed and, since I work Wed, I'm not able to write it then. So now I'll have to get a lesson from the exam supervisor on how to do the electronic oral part. GAH!
To make things even worse, the last 2 lessons were submitted to my marker last Monday. They still haven't been marked and, technically, that all has to be done before I can write the exam. I also still have to do the oral part but haven't been able to get in touch with my marker to do that.
I was on target to have this all done last week which may seem like a close shave to most others but, to my procrastinating self, is looooots of time. Aahhh...the best laid plans and all that. Oh well. I'm going to write the exam and then deal with the rest.
Soooo...if I may toot my own horn...I'm really proud of myself. I haven't told anyone my marks because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I'm certain that all of you who have taken up the challenge of learning Spanish will be supportive. The lowest mark I've received through the whole course is 91%. That was on my midterm exam and it pulled my mark down to 96.5%. My goal was to complete the course with a 97 or 98, which is where I was until the midterm. I'd have to get 100% on the final and that just ain't gonna happen. I do well with reading comprehension. It's the recall to write my own stuff that suffers. Isn't midlife grand? Not! Oh well. My ultimate goal is to be proficient and I'm sure that once I've completed all 3 levels, I will be.
Anyways, wish me luck!
If I had been 21 or younger, it would have cost me far less than the $500 they charge students over 21. You get a full year to complete the course. For my $500 I'm provided a teacher who I can call or email if I have questions. Lessons are submitted electronically, marked and sent back to me via the school's Dropbox. I can also submit the oral part electronically but I'm a dinosaur and have no idea how to do that, so I call the marker (not the same person as the teacher) and do it over the phone. I'm sure there are cheaper ways to learn Spanish but I need the structure of a class setting.
Arranging to write the exam has been a logistical nightmare. I requested it to be sent post mail. The local school I was having it sent to (I have to be in a supervised setting) gave me their street address which isn't the same as their mailing address. Small town = post office box. After 10 days, it still hadn't arrived and I had a devil of a time trying to track it down. Turns out it got sent back because of the wrong address.
So they've had to send it electronically. Today is absolutely the last day I have to write it. I have to have the course completed by Wed and, since I work Wed, I'm not able to write it then. So now I'll have to get a lesson from the exam supervisor on how to do the electronic oral part. GAH!
To make things even worse, the last 2 lessons were submitted to my marker last Monday. They still haven't been marked and, technically, that all has to be done before I can write the exam. I also still have to do the oral part but haven't been able to get in touch with my marker to do that.
I was on target to have this all done last week which may seem like a close shave to most others but, to my procrastinating self, is looooots of time. Aahhh...the best laid plans and all that. Oh well. I'm going to write the exam and then deal with the rest.
Soooo...if I may toot my own horn...I'm really proud of myself. I haven't told anyone my marks because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I'm certain that all of you who have taken up the challenge of learning Spanish will be supportive. The lowest mark I've received through the whole course is 91%. That was on my midterm exam and it pulled my mark down to 96.5%. My goal was to complete the course with a 97 or 98, which is where I was until the midterm. I'd have to get 100% on the final and that just ain't gonna happen. I do well with reading comprehension. It's the recall to write my own stuff that suffers. Isn't midlife grand? Not! Oh well. My ultimate goal is to be proficient and I'm sure that once I've completed all 3 levels, I will be.
Anyways, wish me luck!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Preparations Have Begun
We'll be heading down in about a week's time so it's time for me to get started on things.
Digging through the stash of sunscreen, I realized that one of them had expired and the spray can of aloe (in case for when I get a sunburn) had sprung a leak. I learned many, many moons ago, to keep liquids I travel with in ziplock bags and this hard won wisdom paid off. They were all still in the bag from our last trip down so all I had to do was wipe off the bottles and exchange the bag for a clean one. Do you know what spray aloe does when it dries? It's get all gelled. As I wiped it off the bottles, it balled up similar to the way the glue from those infernal stickers on glass items does. Happily, it was much easier to get off but it still took a bit of elbow grease.
My box of stuff-I-want-to-take-with-me doesn't have much in it. There isn't much we need, anymore. Well, actually, there isn't anything we *need*. Now it's just the little things that are nice to have. Like a felt marker. And an apron. And some small Tupperware containers. Yeah, we can get everything we need down there but not all things are available at any given time. Sometimes it's just easier to get it here and bring it with us.
I still need to go buy some school supplies. We always bring some down and take them to Richard and David at Bolom Balam on C80, if we can catch them. If we miss Richard and David, we give the items to a lady in the complex who takes them to a local school.
I've been working on a couple of crocheted sweaters for kids. The second one is almost done and I'd like to get that finished before we leave so I can bring them both, too.
Had to buy a new suitcase because the retracting handle on one got damaged in a previous flight. We got one of those fancy schmancy ones with the 4 caster-type wheels. Sears had them on for half price after Christmas. Our friends, who came down with us in Nov, have them and they're just the cat's bum. We gave the old one to a friend who fills old suitcases with goodies and then sends them to her friend in Jamaica who disperses everything amongst the less fortunate.
I have to get Señor B to pull a suitcase down from the shelf so I can start packing. It seriously takes me a week to pack, even with My Packing List . I'm in awe of Señor B. He can pack in less than an hour. How does he do it? I suppose his lack of hair means no hair products needed and he doesn't wear make-up so he doesn't need to pack that. But his real secret? He doesn't worry about making sure all the other stuff gets packed. Like the sunscreen. And the "pharmacy". And the TP for forays into pay bathrooms that don't always give you enough . All he looks after is his clothes. He leaves all that other stuff up to my much more anal personality to take care of.
I have my to-do-before-we-leave list going and everything's being taken care of expeditiously so I don't have a boatload of running around to do too close to our flight date. I hate that chicken-with-no-head feeling.
Eight more sleeps til our flight and nine more until we hit Progreso. Can't wait!
Digging through the stash of sunscreen, I realized that one of them had expired and the spray can of aloe (
My box of stuff-I-want-to-take-with-me doesn't have much in it. There isn't much we need, anymore. Well, actually, there isn't anything we *need*. Now it's just the little things that are nice to have. Like a felt marker. And an apron. And some small Tupperware containers. Yeah, we can get everything we need down there but not all things are available at any given time. Sometimes it's just easier to get it here and bring it with us.
I still need to go buy some school supplies. We always bring some down and take them to Richard and David at Bolom Balam on C80, if we can catch them. If we miss Richard and David, we give the items to a lady in the complex who takes them to a local school.
I've been working on a couple of crocheted sweaters for kids. The second one is almost done and I'd like to get that finished before we leave so I can bring them both, too.
Had to buy a new suitcase because the retracting handle on one got damaged in a previous flight. We got one of those fancy schmancy ones with the 4 caster-type wheels. Sears had them on for half price after Christmas. Our friends, who came down with us in Nov, have them and they're just the cat's bum. We gave the old one to a friend who fills old suitcases with goodies and then sends them to her friend in Jamaica who disperses everything amongst the less fortunate.
I have to get Señor B to pull a suitcase down from the shelf so I can start packing. It seriously takes me a week to pack, even with My Packing List . I'm in awe of Señor B. He can pack in less than an hour. How does he do it? I suppose his lack of hair means no hair products needed and he doesn't wear make-up so he doesn't need to pack that. But his real secret? He doesn't worry about making sure all the other stuff gets packed. Like the sunscreen. And the "pharmacy". And the TP for forays into pay bathrooms that don't always give you enough . All he looks after is his clothes. He leaves all that other stuff up to my much more anal personality to take care of.
I have my to-do-before-we-leave list going and everything's being taken care of expeditiously so I don't have a boatload of running around to do too close to our flight date. I hate that chicken-with-no-head feeling.
Eight more sleeps til our flight and nine more until we hit Progreso. Can't wait!
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