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.