Sheryl Update

Monday was quiet work day. Jeff worked and I studied Spanish and had a Spanish lesson. On our walk to the gym I saw this very thorny flower or I guess also known as a flowering cactus.

On Sunday we went back to the beach. It’s only a 20 minute Uber ride so a great Sunday activity.

It was almost chilly with the sea breeze and shade of our rented chairs and umbrella.

Above is Jeff being seranaded by a drummer and clarinetist behind him. Too bad I didn’t keep up with my clarinet playing. I could play and Jeff could get a drum.

After a few hours in the shade we went for a walk and I took photos of doors.

On Saturday we went out to breakfast at a,reataurant literally called Breakfast Nachos.

The menu had so many types it was hard to choose.

We chose the 4th one on the menu Chilaquiles con Longaniza de Vallodalid. I had read about these famous sausages from the town of Vallodalid.

We also got the chilaquiles gourmet. The plan was to trade halfway through. Jeff started with the sausage one and said his hair started to tingle. When we switched I felt really weird when I ate the sausages. I got weirdly hot.

Then for the rest of the day we felt sick. I think there was something either a spice, MSG or a preservative that was no bueno.

So I’m taking a break from breakfast nachos and am off Valloladid sausages forever.

On Friday, Jeff and I found another cofdee roaster. We we’re excited because this one was right next to our gym and the coffee was much cheaper.

The bag was also impressive. But the coffee was just OK. So we will go back to the place we went last week with the really nice couple. Good cofdee it’s worth the extra walk and pesos.

Jeff and I joined a gym that is a 20 minute walk from our AirBnB

On Thursday we found out why some of the curbs are so high.

It turns out in the rainy season tge neighborhood floods. This is going to be a lot of water!

It’s not every street or even the whole street. But it’s pretty crazy to think there could be this much water on the streets.

We are currently on the 3rd floor of an apartment building. So if we were still here by July when the rains start water wouldn’t get into our apt. But I think I would be a boat to cross the street.

On Wednesday I made agua de jamaica. It’s basically iced red zinger tea. I’ve had it in restaurants and it’s delicious. Although I now realize the must add a ton of sugar.

I started with buying a bag of dried hibiscus flowers. They have huge bins at the stores where you can buy them in bulk.

The recipe was one cup dried flowers to 3 cups water.

After boiling for 15 minutes and straining it I ended up with a concentrate. I added water and now have a pitcher of still concentrated red zinger tea.

I added more water into a glass and some stevia.

It’s good but would be better with a crap ton of sugar. Here are all the benefits according to Google. I think that bag of dried flowers, will make gallons and gallons of agua de jamaica so I will be healthy but might have stained red teeth.

Tues was a day to go to the gym, enjoy the nice weather and study Spanish. I didn’t take any photos but these are from a few days ago.

We we’re out to breakfast and this was on our table. When we pushed the button it spun in a way that would have kept bugs away if there were any. I’m not sure how effective it would be, but for a beach bar it seemed pretty clever.

This is also interesting. It’s an electric water pump that goes on bottled water. In Panama our water came with a hand pump which worked fine until you got to the bottom of the bottle.

In Panama you can drink the water, but we choose not to. But we did wash fruit and vegetables with sink water.

Here, we drink and wash fruits and veggies with bottled. This electric pump makes it much easier to hold say an apple under the water without having to manually pump the water.

On Monday night the heat wave finally broke. I was actually chilly on our balcony and had to unpack my hoodie. The temps will go back up next week, but for now it’s wonderful.

A trip to Walmart on Monday was also super exciting. Jeff and I are eating a lot of beans since they are so healthy. I’ve been looking for the last month for canned garbonzos. Since I couldn’t find them, I was buying them dry and soaking and cooking them. Without a pressure cooker it took hours and made our entire AirBnB smell. But now I have found them.

I told Jeff that if I’m ever in a bad mood or depressed after reading the news he should hand me a can of beans to cheer me up. I know it’s a first world problem but it’s so exciting to have ready cooked beans.

On Sunday we went to a beach in the town of Chelem which is 35 minutes by Uber from North Merida where our Air BnB is.

I tried for a photo without my sun glasses. It was way too bright.

The town is small and so mellow. We loved it. Although it was over 100 degrees. So instead of walking down this street, we called an Uber.

At lunch we ordered beers and they asked if we wanted them with michelada. Once they explained that it was a mixture of Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and spices we were sure we didn’t want it. But the waiter convinced us to try it.

The waiter explained we should pour our beer into the glass and stir.

This how much Jeff liked it. And he liked it more than I did.

After a few hours we we’re completely dehydrated even though were in the shade and drinking water, so we caught an Uber and headed back.

On Saturday we went to the Slow Foods market. Even at 10am it was 100 degrees.

As you can see, Jeff handles the heat a lot better than I do. But we got what we set out for, free range, natural meat. Without a Whole Foods, Sprouts or PCC here we are leary if the meat in the supermarkets. But not only did we find natural meats, we found one place that will deliver.

After going to our indoor air conditioned gym we went to the supermarket. I saw this red thing the size of a carrot. After Googling it turns out it’s a kind of radish.

In the spice aisle we looked for bay leaves. We couldn’t find them but then in the veggie aisle, after some googling we realized the above was bay leaves.

We got back to the Air BnB with all the ingredients to make dinner, and ordered in instead.