Lessons on Living

You may have read below how we cancelled our long weekend trip to Isla Mujeres because the fridge broke and we we were waiting for the repair guy.

Another lesson was learned about being a gringa in Mexico. You can bring the gringa to Mexico, but it takes a lot longer to convert the gringa to mexicana thought. This was a really great lesson learned, and the cost overall was minimal.

As expats we learn daily of the customs and culture of our new country of residence. In the US if you have a 'date' with a repair person you wait, because if you miss it you get charged AND you have to reschedule. In Mexico, at least here in Merida, if you miss your 'date' with a repair person OR if they don't show at all, don't worry; It will all come together sooner or later. If the service person comes and you are not home, no problem, he/she moves on to the next and returns later. It's a non-issue.

I must thank friend chicafeliz for this lesson, she said in an e-conversation "GO! !!!THE BROKEN FRIDGE WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU RETURN. IF THEY SAY THEY STOPPED BY TO FIX IT SAY "WE MUST HAVE BEEN AT THE GROCERY STORE!)" She is/was so right. The fridge had already been prepped for a 6-day absence. We could have taken the mayo, onion, and butter to the neighbor and left. Who cares if the coffee, nuts, and peanut butter sit at room temp for a week.

It's a lesson learned, and one we'll remember - What's more important - A weekend on an island or waiting on a repair person. (by the way, it's 3 days and no repair person, and no phone call, we should have gone)

We have Murcielagos

Yes, we do! No big deal; I actually like having them, they eat bugs. I just hate having them fly up on the terraza/patio. They leave batcrap everywhere.


I have to scrape batcrap from the tabletops every morning. The cushions are covered in batcrap spots and need to be recovered in a waterproof/washable fabric. The walls are spotted with batcrap which discourages us from actually painting the walls. I'm getting used to cement grey.

We've had several discussions on how to discourage them from the terraza/patio area.

Suggestion 1 - lights - well when we sit out there of an evening we have lights on, we are there laughing, talking, moving around. They don't mind. Our bats seem to like a party. They swoop in while we are there...

Suggestion 2 - we bought pinatas and hung them from the techo supports. The pinatas have streamers, they swivel and move; this is supposed to discourage them as well. NOPE!

Suggestion 3 - red lights - haven't tried this one yet. Guess we should find a 'red light' store.

Any other suggestions are welcome!!!!

Dreaming Isla

1445, 21 April

Repairman called, can't find the house. Good Grief - I stand in the street dodging traffic till he shows up, 1/2 a minute to replace a bad thingy, with a better thingy and he's gone and the fridge is a hummin!

1030, 19 April

Well no service call yesterday, heck not even a phone call. Although I did call ServiPlus twice and all I could get was Yes, we are scheduled. As soon as I asked if they could check with the technician they couldn't understand my spanish at all, curious?

We took off about 7:30PM to go to jFr's for snacks and drinks before heading to the MACAY for the art show. Had a lovely time. Got to the MACAY close to 9:30PM, the place was hoppin, lots of people in attendance. Quite a few we know, and even more that we don't. Had a lovely visit, saw the art, ... About 11PM a few of us headed over to AMARO, for another snack and drink, plus the live music. Overall a fun evening.

1815, 18 April

Well 45 minutes to go and still no repair guy. Trip to Isla is off, but we do get to go to an Art Opening for a friend at the MACAY tonight; so all is not lost.

1210, 17 April

We have a service call in for tomorrow, we aer scheduled between 9AM and 7PM is that a hoot or what. Of course the guy might get to us today. Unbelievable but we have a 3-year warranty on the refri - Tom unplugged the fridge, then after a bit plugged it back in and got sparks and flames. It's unplugged - are we smart or what!!

How about that - the karmic world taking care of us I guess! we weren't meant to leave today!

All the leftovers and perishables are out - pollo asado for lunch!



0830, 17 April

OK so we got up this morning freezing, for crying out loud it was 70 in the house.

We were planning to leave today to go to Isla Mujeres and stay through till Tuesday; attend a Bloggers Meeting, get in some diving, drink a few beers, eat quite a bit, etc, etc. This mornings cold weather had us re-evaluating the diving part. We've become positively reptilian since living in Merida for 27months. After an internet search and review of the 5-day forecast we were going to be traveling light, sans 25#'s of dive equipment each.

Then things started to happen.

There were several loud electrical sounding pops, then the smell of burning electrical in the pantry. Our pantry is appliance heavy, but the only things that run 24/7 are the refris, yes 2, and the wine cooler. After pulling out the big everyday refri, and cleaning under it so Tom could get on the floor and have a check, Tom is very handy, the compressor is the problem. The compressor kicks on for 6-8 seconds, the electrical smell returns strongly and the compressor cuts off; It is now doing this with persistent regularity. So to get to the point of this tale; we won't be leaving today, we must find a repair person. If all goes well we can leave tomorrow. If things don't go well, well who knows what may happen...At least the fridge is empty of leftovers, and perishables - and thank goodness it wasn't the coffee maker.

updates as available

Bob Dylan

I was hearing a bit today on the news about Iraq, and it brought back a memory of a song by Bob Dylan (don't you just wonder what connects things in your mind, I mean why today did this connection to the news story and this song occur, it's a curious thing isn't it)

MASTERS OF WAR
by bob dylan

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

We Are SO Lucky

We are so lucky, in so many ways. In BIG ways and in SMALL ways! I don't dare to even try and describe them all; however in this instance I am referring to the everyday sort of Lucky.

I remember reading in Therea's blog about how she and husband 'think' they paid their fideicomiso (which is a Trust we foreigners must have for our property here in Merida). There is also a blog by Theresa about another instance of trying to pay their Fideicomiso. These tales aren't limited to Theresa and husband, we have heard horror and frustration stories from numerous extranjeros about trying to make these payments, and also about paying their Property Taxes.

We made a list of errands for this past Monday, one of which was to pay our Fideicomiso. We decided to arm ourselves with all possible sorts of 'might need' paperwork; copies of passports, FM3s, and comprabante de domicillo (utility bill). We also took along our entire set of purchase papers, as well as a document called an 'Estado de Cuenta', essentiall translated State of Account. This document is 2 pages and includes info about the property; the most important for this situation is the Numero de Contrato (contract number).

Anyway, we arrive at ScotiaInverlat which is the bank that holds our Trust, and see several friends in various stages of transactions. We ask at the Info Desk about where to go to pay the Fideicomiso, and are directed to 2 offices, we can take our pick, both are without other customers. We choose door number 2. Good Choice, I hand the paperwork to the lady, explain we want to pay our Fideicomiso, in flawless spanish (necisito pagar mi fideicomiso), ok I can say it better than spell it. She looks at the document says 'momentito' and takes off. At this point I'm chastising myself for not bringing a book, but more people we know enter the bank and we have diversion and catch up time. The lady returns after about 8 minutes with our 'recibo de pago', the document we need to take to the cashier to pay our bill. So off we go to get in line. When we entered the bank there were maybe 12 people in line, now as we head to the line there is one person there, and as we enter the line a cashier opens up (there are 3 clerks working in a bank of 9 workstations) and we step right up.We pay our bill AND exchange some dollars for pesos, and are out of the bank in less than an hour. Are we lucky or what!

Our experience in January of paying our taxes was almost exactly the same experience except we didn't got to a bank; we went to a Gov't office in Centro. And again, we had heard such horror stories.

We had expected this day at the bank to take so much longer, We were so surprised, now we had a whole day to do other stuff - we went to the building where you take the Drivers Test and apply for a MX Drivers License and bought a Drivers Book, "Regalmento De Vialidad Para El Estado De Yucatan' for 20pesos. It's not that I want a MX DL - I just want to know what the 'rules' are. You can't see me but I am grinning ear to ear, and chuckling to myself, ok maybe I'm chuckling out loud. Driving Rules in Mexico, That's Funny. The rules are - whoever is in front has the right of way, and always try to be in front.

We went shopping; Tom got a new swimsuit, I guess for guys it's swimtrunks, I bought 2 new sarongs, must have pool and beach attire. We went out for lunch, we paid both our water bill and Cablemas. We did a bit of visiting, and got home with 2 1/2 hours to rest before meeting friends for late dinner and visit.

It was a pleasant surprise of a day on many levels.

The Pergola Saga continues!

OK you remember the story of the Pergola. How I made a layout of the back garden space, put in a rough design of how I wanted it, planted the large foundation pieces, outlined the pathways in stone, and then started filling in with all the smaller flowery, smelly, fruity stuff. Stuff to attract birds and butterflys, and if possible to provide little snacks for us as well.

After finally deciding on the location We put markers on the ground to decide on size to space, and then also had to choose the alignment. I wanted the sides to align with North, South, East, and West. Unfortunately Our property sits along the same lines. This would have lined the pergola along the same line as the fence, ugly. So we changed our markers so that the corner columns point to the compass cardinal points. I like the way it looks. We lived with the markers for a few months to be sure it was correct.

Then we hired the mason, Manuel. He and helper constructed the base and the installed the columns. He also did a few other projects while he was here.

Next we had to find the wood for the cover. Who knew the wood would be so expensive. After several months the wood was purchased, then delivered,

then it had to sit in the bodega to dry,

then after 5 weeks it finally went up.

We had help from lots of friends. Tom utilized Walter and George for wood pickup and delivery, and Greenwood and Richard for moving the wood to the top of the pergola. Nothing we can say can express our appreciation to these fine friends for their assistance.

Now the Pergola is complete, well almost - it still needs to be decorated!

Chimes, plants, small table and 2 chairs, etc. We received a really cute strand lighted bluebird lights, so now need to run electric.

You can see all the Pergola pictures here!

Frente Frio 40

That's Cold Front #40, to you English speakers.

Good Grief - I was just getting accustomed to - OK, summer is here, it's gonna be hot, adjust, get used to it!

To inaugurate this mental state of being it is time to shave the cat.

We have a Maine Coon Cat. He's 23 years old. He hates to be brushed, and as a result gets horribly matted, hence his name, Matt.

Matt came to us from the street. He was about 10years old when he came to us. At that time he was quite wild, and matted to the point that sheets of matted fur were pulling away from his body. It was terrible; both the matts and his physical condition. Anyway, he came to us, we took him in, take care of him, and brought him to Mexico.

Matt loves the heat here. He will lie on the patio in the sun till you can barely stand to touch him he's so hot. So we try to time his periodic shavings to coincide with hot weather. We are very bad weather forecasters.
So yesterday, we had no plans to go out so it was the perfect time to plan a cat shaving day. Yes, day. It takes a long time to shave Matt. He is old! Did I tell you he's 23. He has arthritis in his hips, and he hates them to be touched. Add to that we have cheap-assed clippers that can't get through the undercoat of a mainecooncat. I now know just how cheap-assed our clippers are. We borrowed our friends really nice clippers (Andis AG2), OH MY GOSH!. Guess that's the difference between spending 24US and 150US (Can you guess who spent the 24$) Anyway, regardless of the method you spend 15-20 minutes on him, then you have to let him be for a while.

So we popped in a movie, one we've seen numerous times, so that you don't mind jumping up and down.

Well the shaving overall went really quickly - there were areas where you have to use tiny little scissors and just cut strands at a time because the matts are right against the skin. And believe it or not, an old cats skin gets very loose and very thin. So you really have to be carefull.

So now he's shaved, and it's cold, Perfect! I feel great!

Cuban Food with Friends

Yesterday we had friends over for Cuban food;

Theresa and husband, as well as Mimi and Jonna. This was also a meet n greet between Tom and me, and Jonna and Mimi. We read each others blogs, and have read that we had attended some of the same events, so decided it was time to meet. Theresa and husband already know all of us.

If either Theresa or Jonna wants this photo removed I'll do it!

But, here they are prepping plates of awesome food! We decided to leave the food in the kitchen and serve ourselves from there! At least we were getting some exercise when we got up to refill our plates!

You can read about the food Theresa prepared, on her 'What do I do all Day' blog, and get the recipes, and see photos on her cooking blog.

Here's a photo of the mojito fixins provided and mixed by Jonna and Mimi

A mojito is traditionally made of five ingredients: rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime, carbonated water and mint.

I'm usually a beer or wine girl. But I must say I liked Jonna's mojito very much.

On Theresa's blog you get to see her food photos. She laments that we neglected to take a shot of the botana plate; slices of fresh cheese, tomatoes, red onion, garnished with minced mint and basil, drizzled with balsamic and olive oil, Served with fresh grilled baguette. Fortunately I did photo the plate, but sadly not until it had been reduced to xix (shish, maya for the bits and pieces left over)

It was a lovely afternoon, we had great food, a bit of music (provided by the Sala de Fiestas behind our house) good conversation, laughs, a few drinks, and now some new friends!

Can't ask for more than that. Gotta love life!

Back to Ticul, and don Lorenzo

We made another trip to Ticul to visit with don Lorenzo. Actually it was a different WE than the last time we went just 2.5 short weeks ago. This time it was a girl adventure (me, C, and jFr). Started out kind of crazy.

Here's the sort of long abreviated version - A whole gaggle of us had gone to friend jFr's house for a nosh and drink event with other friends visiting from Detroit on Thursday evening. jFr, C, and I firmed our departure plans for the next day to head to Santa Elena and The Pickled Onion for lunch, then to Ticul to visit don Lorenzo's taller.

Got an email early Friday am from jFr, her car had been hit during the night, actually at 4:30am cuz she heard the crash, checked the clock for time and rolled back over. The car was hit, it would still be hit in a few hours. Anyway, so the email came and I called to see if she needed pictures taken since I knew she had just recently broken her camera after an unfortunate and unexpected pool plunge, but that's another story.

Anyway, she said yes to the photos so off I went. When I arrived at her house the Policia Estatal were just arriving, as was the insurance representative. As the policeman, Fernandez, and I were approaching jFr's house from down the street the cry comes for help. A man was on the ground so off went Fernandez, next thing you know 3 police trucks come in and an ambulance shows up. An icecream vendor was on the ground, no, not struck by a car or biten by a dog, but stumbling around drunk. Ambulance guys take his bp, do a few checks, pronounce him drunk and take off to let the police deal with him. Then photographers show up and take photos of him and jFr's wrecked car, who knows what story they will come up with. Anyway, the icecream vendor was trying to buy off the police with the offer of icecream, but alas his trici-cart was empty. AND anyway the police weren't taking the offer, even before it was discovered his cart was empty. The police went and got the icecream boss, and a sober guy to drive the trici-cart back to the shop. Drunk guy really didn't want anyone driving away on his trici-cart so put up a little bit of a struggle, but was not up to the task of offering serious resistence. So to try to shorten this up - icecream boss takes drunk guy, sober guy takes trici-cart, insurance guy makes damage report, police watch everything and offer assistance, Debi takes pictures, jFr provides documents and info as required.

OK, back to the car, now at 0430 there are no other cars parked on the road as all the neighbors with cars put their cars across the street in the off street parking in front of Niplito after the store closes. The road is fairly wide here, however - at 0430 a white Nissan could not seem to miss the one car parked on the street and hit the left rear panel of jFr's subaru. It broke the light covering, but not the bulbs, and caused a bit of crumpling to the left side panel, nothing serious enough to put the vehicle out of comission. It did however push the Subaru about 3.5 meters up onto the sidewalk where the car came to rest about 20cm from the facade of jFr's house, her freshly painted house. So overall the car was ok, we got the report done, moved the car, and were able to get on with our trip as planned with only a slight delay in take off. The pictures I took I loaded off to jFr's computer and actually moved them not copy'd them so don't have any photos to post of either car or drunk guy. You may have asked, ¿How do they know it was a white Nissan? Good Question! We know because in addition to the entire right front light assembly, there were multiple pieces of white car impaled into jFr's car and scattered around on the ground. Some of these pieces actually had Nissan stamped into them. Quite a piece of detective work there!

OK, so I went home, C picked me up, we then picked up jFr, and after a stop for some moolah we were heading down the road. First stop after all this was in Santa Elena at friend Valerie's Pickled Onion restaurant. And this time I took food pictures, we each ordered something different.

jFr had avacado soup and greek salad, C had avacado soup and a meatball plate, and I had a chicken with capers plate.
ummm, ummm, good! Great food, and a lovely visit with Valerie since she wasn't too busy this day!

After lunch we were off to Ticul. We had a great time, bought a few pots, took lots of photos, and had a nice chat with don Lorenzo. He was quite enthusiastic about telling us about grafting trees, especially citrus trees. Apparently he and a son are creating grafted citrus with various combination of sour orange/lime, sweet orange/sour orange, etc.

The kiln was being unloaded while we were there, which was cool to see how they pack it and all. And one of the workers was mixing up big batches of clay; it was really interesting to see and hear about how they process the hard rock clay they gather; breaking down the hard rock clay, soaking, mixing with the really fine polvo/sand, and then mixing by hand into big balls for working into the pots.

Check out this link to more pictures at don Lorenzo's taller and the pots he sells. There are pictures here from our first visit, and shots from yesterdays visit. http://picasaweb.google.com/TomnDebi/DonLorenzoOfTicul

We had a good day, got to chat, learn a little more about each other, laugh, and bond.

We were rolling into Merida about 1730, and as C&G had cocktail hour scheduled at their house with same Detroit group as night before at jFr's house we all trooped over there for another visit. Got home about 2030, hot, tired, a little tipsy, and needing rest. Had a dip in the pool, fed kitties, answered emails, watched TV for an hour, read a bit, and off to bed by 2300. It was a very good day. - well better for C and me, than jFr; but only because it was her car.