Feb 16, 2019
We slept in since neither of us slept well. We went to another nearby crafts fair then bought some cheese at our little organic market and then popped into the Saturday farmers’ market for some fresh veggies. At home, we washed and soaked the veggies. A little after 1:00 we met a friend for lunch. Steve is a cousin of a good friend of ours in S OR. We met four years ago when we were considering moving here. He is still enthusiastic about living here even with all the changes. I told him I wasn’t sure but he pointed out how real estate prices will continue to grow here. He told us what he considered the positives and said there were few negatives. He felt my story about the angry woman on the street was a one-off incident and he has not experienced any negative encounters. Steve is a delightful man and we enjoyed our time with him.
We walked into centro and bought a copper vase we had been admiring and realized it would fit into our carry-on luggage, saving us shipping costs. We are waiting to buy the black pottery piece because the shipper gave us an estimate but never sent us the quote in writing which we want.
We came home and read, watered some plants and looked at real estate online. We have no immediate plans to buy down here but we really enjoy looking at real estate.
Feb 17
Ron made us his famous Dutch Baby for breakfast. We went to the market and came home. We went to a documentary on the Forests of the Yucatan peninsula which was one of a three-part series on Mexico aired on PBS. Part of the film focuses n the geology of the region and it was fascinating. Afterward, we walked across the street and had a great meal at Juan’s Café. Four years ago our friend Steve took us here for lunch so he reminded us where it was when we had lunch on Saturday. The menu had many tempting choices but I couldn’t resist the blue cheese salad with mangoes, apples, tomatoes, red onions and lettuce topped with mango dressing. Ron had chicken tostadas with chipotle sauce. Neither of us could finish our meal due to the generous servings.
We walked back past our place to the pocket theater which is showing academy nominated films and watched Cold War, a grim love story that took place during the 1940s-50s in Poland and Paris. On the way home, we came up behind a family on the sidewalk. We stepped off the curb to pass them because the elderly grandmother was in the lead and moving slowly. As we passed them, we greeted them with ‘buenas tardes’ and we got a response in perfect English ‘How are you?’ I stopped in my tracks and turned to the man and said ‘You speak perfect English’. A wonderful exchange ensued. The man was with his wife, his four daughters, and his mom and dad. I asked him how he was able to be surrounded by so many beautiful women which he liked hearing. We visited for several minutes, enjoying the experience.
We came home and made grilled cheese and Portabella sandwiches with some fresh broccoli soup we had picked up at the market where the film was playing.
We have not looked at TV but once while here and that was to watch the last five minutes of the Super Bowl. Tonight Ron discovered a PBS channel out of Seattle and we watch two episodes of Victoria while waiting for Gary and Edmund to arrive. At the stroke of midnight, the doorbell rang. We gave Gary and Edmund a quick tour of the house then said goodnight.
Feb 18
We slept in until 7:30; I discovered Gary wandering around the patio when I came downstairs. He loves the house. After making coffee Edmund joined us on the patio. Today after breakfast we walked through the Instituto and the Juarez Parque then headed to the ATM to get pesos for G and E.
We continued on into centro to show them San Miguel’sbeautiful historic center. We stopped at the Bibliotecha and had lunch and poked around a few shops. Before coming home we stopped in a courtyard for a refreshing drink. I then took them through what is known as the Life Path and showed them the outside of the house we looked at last week. As we stood there talking about the house a woman stopped by and told us she was pretty sure she was going to buy the house. Once we got home we rested. Edmund was my sous chef making a great salad to go with our spaghetti dinner at home. Ron and Gary where taking pictures from the roof patio.
After dinner, we planned activities for the rest of the week.
Feb 19
Today I went with G and E to the botanical garden. They loved the arid plant life. Gary was taking photos throughout the three hours we were there. I went to the counter to ask the staff person to call a taxi for us. She said it would take at least 40 minutes due to a traffic accident on the freeway. I asked her to place our taxi order and we would get a drink in the ‘café’. I ordered the drinks and went back to the counter to pay our bill. I presented the kitchen staff person with the receipt and about that time G and E came up to say ‘our taxi is here’. I went back inside to see if I could get a refund since the staff person had not yet made our drinks. No luck. I think my lack of Spanish made it impossible for the staff person to understand what I was asking for. I let it go and we jumped into the cab, relieved that we didn’t have to wait.
Meanwhile, Ron had taken the morning to wander around town taking pictures. One of the things he likes to do is take pictures of local people in candid shots; mostly with his telephoto lens.
Within minutes we ran into stopped traffic, bumper to bumper all the way into town. What is usually at 12-15 minute ride turned into a 45-minute traffic jam from hell. With two exceptions every street in each direction was jammed packed. I can only assume the freeway traffic accident forced all the cars off the freeway at least on one direction onto the streets of SMA. I have never seen anything like it. Our patient driver was a peach. No honking, no cussing, just a patient man. I kept texting Ron of our progress. I think it was almost 3:00 before we ate lunch at Hecho En Mexico. We got home and all of us rested, reading books, napping and relaxing. We were too tired to go out for dinner so we made an unplanned meal of scrambled cheese and red bell pepper eggs with toast and a fresh fruit salad. We dined by candlelight on the patio.
Feb 20
This morning I took G and E up to centro square so they could go on the Historic Tour that is a fundraiser for a non-profit that serves the needs of nearby village children. The woman who greeted them said the organization had purchased four vans that take doctors, dentists, and psychologists out to the villages to serve the needs of poor families. How wonderful and bravo! The ex-pat organization of 31 people has been serving the rural community for 40+ years.
I came back home and asked Ron to go grocery shopping with me to help me carry things home. After putting the groceries away, we headed to a square in centro to get our shoes polished. The botanical garden’s dirt pathways had taken their toll on our shoes. Afterward, we went to Biblioteca to meet up with G and E. They called to tell us their tour ended up at a different place than usual so off we went to meet up and go to lunch. That took longer than expected as they had gotten confused about their location but we finally hooked up after several missteps. We ate at Juan’s Café in anticipation of going out for a nice meal tonight. When I called La Parada while we were having lunch, I discovered they did not have room for any reservations for dinner until next Wednesday! Dang, I made a Friday lunch reservation.
We went around the corner to visit a shop that has great textiles. I got a gift for a friend and a shirt for Ron. Ron departed as he wasn’t feeling well and G, E and I continued to pop into shops. After three or four I was flagging. I could not get to sleep last night and stayed up reading very late. I came home to find Ron upstairs in bed resting. I got him some cold water and let him rest.
I think when G and E return I will try to talk them into going out to a nice restaurant without us. I’ll stay here with Ron and make a simple salad or grilled sandwich for dinner.
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