Sleeping in, Dreaming and OMG what are we doing?

Feb 24

We slept in until 8:30…yum. We had our usual Sunday breakfast of Ron’s Dutch Baby; this one made with fresh pears. We read until noon then headed out to enjoy more art on the self-guided open studio tour. We are so impressed with the quality of art available in this small community but there has been an art school here since the late 1930s. We spent a long time at the shop that had a print we spied yesterday. We got a quote on matting and framing but were not able to get a shipping quote. More information is needed before making a commitment. I looked at the print ‘Nocturnas’ for a long time. It is a scene with women each holding a slice of watermelon on her head. One part of the print didn’t ‘read’ right. I just couldn’t make sense of it. We will return tomorrow because the salesperson gave us a print out of the quote and when I looked at it later the price had been left off. I will ask for an explanation of the part of the print that doesn’t make sense to me.

Afterward, we were able to visit a few more studios, have a quick lunch, visit the last day of a weekend craft fair then go see The Wife at the Pocket Theater. The movie theater is small, hence ‘pocket theater’. It was completely full with an extra chair added to accommodate the overflow. We came home and decided to go out for dinner but several places we considered were closed. Many restaurants serve breakfast and lunch only and others close on Sunday so the choices are more limited. We tried a new place. I ordered tostadas and it came with 10 huge shrimp. The salad was not good but the shrimp were delicious. Ron’s meal got a similar review. That was a one-time only visit.

Our host has a large TV screen so we indulged and watched the Oscars for our evening entertainment, getting to bed past midnight.

Feb 25

Today our neighborhood homeless man started his shouting quite early. It was light out but traffic had not started so it was probably 6:30 or 7:00. Fortunately, he roams so after a while he went somewhere further away and we went back to sleep…another sleep-in day for us. I woke up around 8:20 and came downstairs and Ron woke up shortly after.

Today we hope to make a decision about the print and plan any more excursions before we leave lovely San Miguel early on Thursday to fly to Oaxaca. I need to do a little shopping to get some garbage bags for the next tenant and a few food items.

Our day ended up fairly full. We decided we wanted to explore real estate here, going beyond looking online. Most of the realty websites are not easy to use. Ron called a realtor, gave her some specifics of what we would like, price range etc. We will look at houses on Tues and Wed to get a feel for the market here. Her family has been here a long time; her mother was one of the founders of Fabrika La Aurora and her father brokered the deal for the Rosewood Hotel, a high end large colonial hotel. No immediate plans to buy but we are curious about the possibility.

After speaking with her, we went to the shop with the print we liked and I got clarity on the part of the print I couldn’t understand.  We decided to buy it unframed. After framing and shipping the cost would be more than triple.

While there we struck up a conversation with an artist who moved here from Nova Scotia. She loved our print so we told her there was a similar one by the same artist. We told her our story about when we were first married, we gave each other very practical gifts on our anniversary, like a shirt or blouse. After a few years Ron’s mother, Sonia, said ‘You two are so boring’. We looked at each other and had to agree with her. From that point on we would pick out an artwork each anniversary and managed to build a decent collection after 33 years of marriage. The woman from Nova Scotia loved the story. As the staff at the store was writing up our order, she called her husband over to consider two pieces she wanted to buy and looked over to us and said, ‘Great idea, I am taking care of two anniversaries now’ and the four of us laughed. She bought the other print by the same artist as ours.

Next, we tried out a new to us restaurant. The

setting couldn’t have been more serene or more photogenic. The building had been an administrative and storehouse building for the Catholic church in the 1800s. At the time the church required a tithe of 10% in either cash or crop harvest, hence the storehouse. The center courtyard was planted with trees, ferns, ground covers and flowers. It was lush and so cool with all the greenery.

The covered walks next to the building had columns and arches. Grinding stones were beautifully arranged in the garden as were sculptures, a koi pond, and a small fountain. I regret we didn’t go here when we had guests. We each had a salad; I couldn’t finish my curried chicken salad with papaya and mixed greens. Ron enjoyed spinach beet salad with goat cheese. 

Next stop was Juan’s Café where we got a copy of The Favorite. Ron has seen it but I haven’t and since the lead got the best actress award last night, I wanted to see it. Afterward, we went to the centro store where I got butter, garbage bags and Kleenex. Surely this is my last time to go to the grocery store.

After resting at home, we will make a veggie dinner.

Feb 26

Another day to sleep in until 8:00. Today we viewed four houses in the SMA area with a real estate agent’s assistant. All four were interesting. One was too far away from town up a very steep road, and too far to walk to town. 

The next one needed a MAJOR upgrade and because it is in the heritage area there would be restrictions as to what could be done to upgrade the house. It was way more work than either of us was interested in having done. 

The third house was charming but it is what is known as a vertical house. Each of the three bedrooms was on a different floor. Access to the two upper floors was on outside stairs. 

A few blocks away outside centro was a gorgeous home with large rooms that was twice the size for the same price as the third house in the centro. Location, location, location! It was a very helpful day to see what is available, where the homes were located and how that influences the price.

Tomorrow we will see a couple more houses. We are flirting with living here. It will be at least a year probably before we are able to make the move.

We left at 12:30 and got home around 3:30. We had eaten a small sandwich around 11:30 because we were not sure when the person was coming but she was expected around noon. After we returned home, we decided to get a snack up the street at a small café. I got an Americano with cookies and Ron had a piece of carrot cake. We went away happy.

Tonight we went out to dinner at the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday. It is just as romantic and atmospheric at night. The garden had small lights strung in the trees to add to the ambiance.  I had a delicious Yucatan pork in a banana leaf dish and Ron had a Caribbean shrimp dish.  Our food was excellent.

We started packing today for our departure on Thursday. Nicolas will pick us up at 6:00 a.m. We are excited to discover Oaxaca. Everyone we have told that we are going there has said ’You will love it!’