Monday, 12 November 2018: Casa Colibri

Here in Celestun we go to bed quite early partly to avoid mosquitoes and partly because we eat dinner quite early.  The restaurants on the beach close when the sun goes down.  I’ve got the coffee set to come on at 6:30 am and I probably should change it to 6:00am but that just seems wrong to get up that early.  Justin just doesn’t sleep at night. So, this morning I got up and started playing with our new treasures.  We left a house full of dirty sheets and towels and somehow it is ok that they wait until we have a washer.

And, speaking of Justin's sleep... we need distilled water for his CPAP machine.  I've looked everywhere with no luck.  I started looking in the grocery stores and they set me to the pharmacy.  One farmacia sent me to another.  I've looked everywhere!  I did some research online.  Some say they always use tap water while others warn of inhaling all those heavy metals.  I'll keep looking.

This would have been a three day weekend — wonder where we would have gone had we still been in Europe.  Maybe south of France?  Maybe ???

Justin went swimming twice in celebration .  He figures that any day you can go swimming is a good day and any day you can go swimming twice, is fabulous.  

Ivan and Jonathan came by.  Before they left we had electricity in what will be our quarters as well as plans for new lighting in the courtyard and extra switches for the lights at the gate and several places throughout the house.  Ok, there is more to this story.  These two guys arrived about 10:30 or 11:00am. Justin took them to the hardware store for supplies about noon.  He spent about MXP 420 ($21).  They came back to our house and worked until a bit after 5:00pm.  The total charge for labor was MXP 500 ($25). And we have electricity in our quarters!!!

Sunday, 11 November 2018: Merida

Laura and her peeps left about 2pm on Friday and Justin and I headed to Merida.  We packed for two nights so we could get more of our chores completed.  For me the top thing on the list is a washer.  Lea had reasonable success when she sent some things out to the lavanderia in Celestun so I’ll do the same when we get back home.  There are at least five set of sheets and a dozen towels waiting as well as clothes and kitchen towels from the last week.  I need a washer! 

 “Buen fin” is a country wide sale that starts next week. Inspired by Black Friday, Buen Fin was started in 2011 to boost the economy and the quality of life.  The timing is just before the celebration of the Mexican Revolution.  Formally translated “El Buen Fin de Semana” or “ The Good Weekend” gets mixed reviews as some say while the sales may attract North American shoppers especially on the border towns, many typical local people find themselves in debt with monthly payments that go on and on.

Dinner at Chaya Maya was delicious.

After a hearty breakfast in our new hotel, Casa Carmita, we spent all day on Saturday shopping.  Fernandez, Sams, Sears and the Pier One that is located inside and we checked out Costco.  We checked out refrigerators and washers but decided to wait until next week for the sales.  Gemma spent the day in the cool hotel room and that was a good idea.  At one point we saw 96’ and we felt every degree of the heat. 

Our car was almost full but we set out again.  

We saw Sandra and Peter at Sams. They just returned from Miami and were making a quick stop before returning to Celestun. I told Sandra I just bought a yoga mat so I was ready for Pilates. 

Pedro and Aracilia made pozole from Rob and Laura's dried corn.  My oh my!

DInner on their last evening at La Palapa.  

Pedro was cleaning up in triaminos.

Wednesday, 7 November 2018: Merida

Rob, Laura, et al planned to go see flamingoes today  That left Justin and me to go into Merida to see Anthony and start the process for our permanent residency cards.
At one point as he was explaining the paperwork which of course is all written in Spanish, he actually said “... all the legal blah blah, blah...”. My goodness.  

Driving into town we passed a store that sold yard features.  We were particularly interested in a large fountain.  (2,900 MXP. including the base.)  To note for later, the address was Calle 47 (or Calle 61). at Av Merida 2000

Pedestal pots. $12.50.  Huge pots. 850

We stopped for a quick lunch at a sushi restaurant.  It wasn't quite right but, hey... it's Mexico.  It was a quick trip for us and we were headed back home before we knew it.

Tuesday, 6 November 2018: Celestún

Justin has been doing research on gardens.  He was particularly interested in La Selva Mariposa a small BnB in Macario Gomez near Tulum.  They done lots of tropical gardens that seemed to catch his eye.  I am writing about this her because in a few weeks when he asks me about it I can look it up.

Aholi came; she’s pregnant! She will get married in December with a small family only ceremony.  The baby is due in March so we will get the meet the new little one.  Her massage is still the best!

Pedro was cooking breakfast while I had my massage.  Almost everyone was finished by the time I was done but they’d saved a plate for me.  What a treat to have this meal prepared for me in our own home.  YUMMY!

Monday, 5 November 2018: Casa Colibri

Rob and Laura were supposed to arrive in Merida about 5:30am after an 18 hour bus trip from Oaxaca.  After a quick bite and then driving to Celestun, that would have put them here around eight am.  Our first official guest!  We got up early and tidied up around the house.  You are never done but when we got a message from Lea letting us know that the bus was delayed until 10am, we stopped to go swimming.

The house and the rooms are as ready as they can be -- time to go swimming.  

Our seven guests arrived about one in the afternoon.  After hellos and a bit of getting settled they headed to the beach.  Rob and Laura’s friends Pedro, Aricelia and nine year old son, Pedro have never been on a family vacation and Pedro has never been to the beach.  Justin went with them while I took a bit of a siesta.  

We set out on our walk along the beach as we’d all planned on dinner at Los Pampanos.  Maybe half way there we realized Gemma wasn’t with us.  She’d taken herself on a little walk-about by herself.  Justin and I turned around and headed back leaving our guests on their own.  Justin stayed on the beach and I headed up to the road to double our search base.  Gemma found Justin pretty quickly and they both found me soon after.    Aargh!!

Our dinner was great and our walk home was uneventful.  

Here in Celestun the temp is 81 with a low expected tonight of 75.  In Brussels WI it is 44 with a low of 41.  Friday the low is expected to be 21!

Abraham and Jonathan assembled fans for all the rooms.  

We brought lemon grass from Charlsey and Harold's in Alvin.  The roots look fine and healthy.  

I look forward to using that to ward off mosquitoes.  

Tomorrow is Election Day and while that might be the biggest thing going for some people, the biggest thing going for us is that Aholi is coming tomorrow,  I haven’t had a massage in the longest and I am ready to see her!

Saturday, 3 November 2018: Celestún

We spent the last two days tossing and scrubbing and tossing and scrubbing.  There is so much crap to get rid of.  We’ve both been looking forward to these tasks but it is a mountain of work. Abraham has been right along side us working just as hard.  While we are preparing the guest rooms for occupancy we are setting up the owners quarters to be our own.  But wait, the toilet in there doesn’t work as neither does the electricity.  Pauli, the electrician came by.  Had he heard we were trying to talk to another guy?  We wanted to give Ishmael’s electrician and his plumber a try.  I really don’t care, I just want it to work.  No matter, Pauli says we need to buy a tester when we are in Merida next week and we will see.  

We got a note from Lea.  She said she and Bennie had decided to stay in Merida for the weekend so everyone will arrive on Monday morning.  I gave her a list of my favorite things to do and places to go in Merida.  I am sure they would have been fine -- Merida is such a fun city.  Justin and I took time for a swim before Robbie came over for a drink before dinner at El Lobo.  Justin had spaghetti and I had a burger.  We’d never been to this restaurant before.  The owners Paschal and Sol are close friends of Robbie’s.  We will be sure to go there again.  

Meanwhile, the midterms are getting closer and Venice is flooding.  My biggest concerns seem mundane comparatively.  

Abraham wanted to take three of the old beds to Tetiz as well as some other items that I had destined for the rubbish bin.  His friend showed up with a truck and filled 'er up.  The two little boys each took a suitcase and left with an ear-to-ear grin.

I spent too much of the day working on keys.  

Keys to what? 

I don't know yet but I've got keys!

Thursday, 1 November 2018: Celestun

We rather missed Halloween and that is fine with me, but we did not miss Dia de Los Muertos.  Ishmael invited us to join his family in what he says is his favorite holiday.  His job was to dog the pit and build and tend the fire.  I don't know what time he started but he told us to get there around ten am.  By that time, the pit (about 3x5 feet) was ready to lay in stones and a grate.  Once the stones were hot, hot, hot, then they added the pork dish, covered it with green palms and a weight of corrugated steel and let it do its magic for three or four hours.  It is very important to Ishmael to teach his sons the Maya ways.  
Meanwhile, Claudia got up at about five am.  Her sister helped her to mix the masa, the spices and to coarsely chop the piglets before wrapping them in banana leaves to bake.  There were fourteen little pigs in our fire pit.  Wrapped in banana leaves they all look the same but since a few were just a bit different, one had cheese, another had mega peppers, Claudia had used a special technique to mark the wrapped bundles.  One had a pull top from a soda can on it.  Another had a long screw tied into the bundle.  Metal symbols that wouldn't interfere with the cooking and would still be easily identifiable after cooking.  Smart girl. This dish - cochinita pubil - is traditional Maya fare and simply delicious.  

So with the pigs on the fire and covered, there was beer to drink to tales to tell.  About three thirty it was time to uncover the deliciousness.  

Ishmael's immediate family was joined by his mother, two brothers , their wives and kids, Claudia's mom, brother and sister and all their kids.  Justin and I were the only two non-Maya people at this shindig.  There were no side dishes or desserts; the pig was the main attraction and it was fabulous!  At first we ate with only our fingers.  A few forks appeared later on and thankfully there were napkins as we got it ear-to-ear.    As we were winding down, everyone too stuffed to move I noticed that everyone seemed to gasp -- and look above my head.  A coconut came loose, rolled down a palm fond and fell on my head!  Yes, right on my head!  I truly saw stars!  My eyes welled with tears but what is a girl to do?  Thankfully, they didn't try to pass it off as a sign of good luck or anything foolish.  I guess it is a good thing I have such a hard head!

Justin and I were shot for the rest of the day but we didn't neglect to voice our gratitude to have been included in this local family traditional celebration.  Ishmael and his family are good people and we are so very fortunate to have them as friends.