On Friday we went for a long morning walk then stopped in a restaurant for breakfast. I got chilaquiles which are basically nachos for breakfast.
Then we spent the afternoon apartment hunting. We still have not found the perfect one.
We saw several apartments yesterday that were close but not perfect. Our Airbnb it’s currently on the outskirts of town. Sergio and Jeff like being out in the open area where the buildings are modern and there are sidewalks.
Sven and I find this area to be a little tame. There are no doors out here to photograph.
We are seeing a few more today. We have a great rental agent who must make a good commission because he’s being patient with our many wants.
Furnished, king bed, desk, balcony with a view, 2 bathrooms, oven.
We went into an OXXO last night. It’s like a 7 Eleven. They had this huge egg display. With the exchange rate a dozen eggs is $2 American dollars. At this point it feels like bragging because who buys eggs at an OXXO?
I wasn’t feeling great yesterday so didn’t do much. But I did spend some time learning about what to do in an emergency. These signs are posted outside the elelevators. I love the first picture. If trapped im an elevator hold a briefcase and shake hands.
The first picture in the above sign is also pretty great. If your short friend is about to throw up comfort them and lecture them.
Jeff and I are in an Air Bnb right now but we want to move to a long term rental that that we can stay in for a few months. We found a realator company that is highly reccomended by expats. This is the car one of them drove. It was a motorcycle motor. It was super small and not something I’d want to ride in for more than a few blocks.
You wouldn’t think an oven would be a big deal but most apartments here don’t have them.
The above apt has a nice view until you realize it’s overlooking a Walmart.
So, the hunt continues.
Today something happened that never ever happened in Panama. I needed jacket. It was so nice out and dare I say it, chilly.
We stated the day on a walk.
We passed an empty lot that had this papaya tree growing on it. I Googled it to confirm it was a papaya tree. They look so weird.
We saw this street sign. Maybe could have used more description or a word or two?
We also stopped in a pharmacy that had its own mascot, of a pharmacist. Or its the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy.
On Sundays they close one of the main roads to bicycles. We saw this in Panama and Colombia too. Such a cool thing. Maybe it’s everywhere and I just never noticed.
It was 102 for a high so we got out early and didn’t eat breakfast. This nice tamale seller gave us a free sample of a strawberry tamale. It was so good we boought some chicken ones. I am going tamale crazy.
I’m also going door crazy in Merida.
By 11:00 it was already too hot so we went into a 2nd floor coffee shop. This crossing guard was cutting a rug out there in the heat dancing.
He seemed hapoy that I enjoyed his dance routine.
Jeff and I are not wine snobs, but when someone suggested Mexican wine we were both dubious. But it was really good. Who knew. It wasn’t the best wine of our lives but I’d buy a bottle.
It was 102 degrees here yesterday, but nice in the morning. We went to a Slow Food market. I guess Slow Food is worldwide. It’s an organization that promotes organic and ethical foods. The vendors were so nice and patient with my Spanish and proud of their products We bought cheese, sausage, bread, veggies, honey and tamales which we ate there.
Today we had a chill day. We hung out at the pool and checked out these flowers.
For dinner we went out for tacos. We thought we had ordered margaritas, but somehow ended up with the teuilla only.
Our Airbnb is in a, really modern part of town. But on our walk today we found a quiet street with colorful buildings.
Next we stopped for quesadillas.
It was at this point we realized that Merida was on Mountain time. An hour later than the west coast and an hour earlier than Chicago. It’s really confusing if you look at a map. Merida is directly south of Illinois but is an hour earlier.
Today I got my maitenance drug. Since I get it every three weeks this was a big milestone. It all went well which means we can stay longer.
It was crazy though. This is how it went in Panana. I walked over to the clinic. The infusion center was a bunch of recliners lined up. I got the infusion, an hour later I walked home.
Here, I had to bring Jeff and we were assigned a hospital room. There was a really comfy sofa and cookies.
My oncologist, who I had had a zoom appointment in Panama and and in person appt the day before hung out with us in the room.
After a really long wait I got the infusion. During the 30 minute treatment they insisted I lie in the hospital bed. Then sandwiches arrived.
Also rumors circulated among the nurses that Jeff spoke really good Spanish.
We were told that I couldn’t leave until insurance approved the charge and it could take 4 hours. Jeff asked if they could put a hold on our credit card since it could be 3 weeks before insurance approved it. It was a nice room but I didn’t want to move in.
Jeff went to pay but I was not allowed to leave the room. This was the text with the bill dept.
I was not thrilled to be held hostage and crammed everything we didn’t eat into my purse. I scored an apple, two granola bars, 4 sugar packets and some cookies. There was also a hotel type set of soap, shampoo and conditioner. They probably wonder when I had time to take a shower.
Finally I was released and they insisted I leave by wheelchair. It took 4 hours which was silly but my doctor is great and I got great care.
