North America

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Flying Montreal to Merida Business Class on Aeromexico

(Post 257 of 263)

I flew to Canada carry-on only primarily because I did not trust Canadian airlines with my luggage. I think that was a smart move. Air Canada could have probably gotten my suitcase from Regina to Montreal, but with Westjet having fallen into absolute chaos and rerouting me through Edmonton, I bet I would have arrived in Regina to find my suitcase had been forwarded to Halifax. But I wanted to come home to Mexico with a checked bag so I could do some shopping in Canada. So I only considered Aeroméxico to come home, finding a great flight that needed me at YUL at 7AM to walk in the door at home by 7PM, so a 15-hour day door-to-door counting the time change, and that included a nearly 2-hour layover in CDMX, but with no terminal change, like last time. I did some math and discovered it was barely more expensive to upgrade my economy ticket to business class than it was to add a couple of checked bags!

Come from a country where I’ve always had to live frugally, the idea of one day flying better than economy just wasn’t on my radar. So this was quite a surprise, and I jumped on the opportunity! I did some research about the expected perks and they included lounge access at both YUL and CDMX, priority boarding, larger seats, and a meal on the longer leg. Lounge access! I was finally going to see how the other half travel! But I was disappointed to learn that the Air France lounge at YUL has a history of not honouring a lounge reciprocity agreement with Aeroméxico, turning away travellers with a right to use the lounge. So I prepared myself to be denied entry. Bit disappointing, but I was glad to know this ahead of time.

My mother and I left for Dorval at 6AM on July 2nd, getting me to YUL by 7AM in plenty of time for my 10:15M flight. I was able to go to the head of the check-in line to drop my bags. All my interactions at baggage drop-off were made with the assumption I’d want to do them in Spanish, and that did not change when my accent was revealed. I was pleased to learn that my bags would go to Mérida on there own, no need to recheck them in CDMX. The final thing I was told was that I could have access to the “VIP room” at Gate 57 and that the Air France nonsense had been “dealt with.” Ooh!

Security was mad with wait times estimated at 20 minutes. I was again able to skip the queue and be processed immediately and without fuss. My ticket was already feeling like a huge bargain.

I schlepped to Gate 57 and stepped into the entrance for the Air France lounge. The attendant scanned my ticket saying only “Aeroméxico.” Was that a tone of disdain? LOL Who cares? I headed upstairs to find a beautiful quiet space with comfy chairs by huge windows to watch planes take off and land. I was promptly greeted and walked through the buffet options and how to make coffee.

Potatoes and sausage at the YUL Air France Lounge

There was going to be another meal on the plane, so I only made a small plate and a delicious Americano, then sat down to brag about my situation on Facebook. I then made a second coffee and couldn’t resist another small apple Danish to go with it, before moving to a lounge chair. What luxury to wait a few hours for your flight in a quiet place where you can leave your bags while you use the washroom! They all have a huge shower in them. Imagine if Westjet had given travellers access to a space like this to spend the night in Edmonton…

I headed down to my gate at about 9:30. Boarding started quickly, and I was one of the first on the plane, with my seat being in the very front row and by TWO windows. There was nowhere to stow my backpack and I was never asked to put it in a bin, so I was able to have access to the contents for the whole flight. With the seat came a blanket and pillow, both of which came in handy. A flight attendant promptly offered me a juice or water before takeoff.

Once in the air, I was brought my in-flight meal. I’d been offered a few days before by email a choice of frittata, bagel with smoked salmon, or waffles. Since I’d already had smoked salmon in the previous week, I chose waffles. I couldn’t believe how good the meal was, everything cooked to perfection, with some lovely fresh fruit as well. The coffee was served in a real cup as well.

The bacon was perfectly cooked, so good. The jam went into the yogurt for my third course. 🙂

The tiny china salt and pepper shakers cracked me up.

I fell asleep after breakfast, but woke up for the second beverage service. They they did not have apple soda, my usual go-to on Mexican flights, so I had regular apple juice, also in a real glass. The “Ciel” is my neighbour’s mineral water.

Flying over the mountains.

Amazing shot, if I do say so myself.

Arrival in CDMX was a bit confusing as I’d been given the impression I would not have to go through security again, so I kept thinking I was going to the wrong place. But everyone I asked told me I was going the correct way for a transfer to Mérida, so I just followed the indications. First stop was, of course, border control. Like last time, I was directed to take the much shorter citizens’ line rather than the very long queue for tourists. I forgot to mention that when I left Cancún, all I needed to exit was a stamp in my passport, unlike last time when I had to fill out a form to hang on to and return at entry. To reenter, I just got a reentry stamp. It’s fantastic to see such processes being streamlined! Entry was just like last time, a stamp and a welcome home.

Security at CDMX was intense. You couldn’t take anything through in your hands, not even your passport, and they made me put my phone and Watch out in the open in a tray, where I’d been able to leave my phone in my purse and my Watch on my wrist through all the other security checks of my trip. There was then a delay to get through the scanner, so I was worried about having items stolen, relaxing when I saw how tightly controlled the process was and that they were only passing items through the x-ray once the owner had gone through the scanner.

Once through security, I was let into the main part of terminal 2 and started to look at my lunch options when I realised that I probably had access to a lounge there as well! Sure enough, I found the Aeroméxico lounge upstairs, and it was very busy. I didn’t feel comfortable taking any photos. There were some modest food offerings, but lots of drinks, including nearly any kind of beer you could want. I put together a plate that included a surprisingly good cold pesto pasta and was happy to add a cold beer. Since this lounge was so busy, I didn’t mind as much that I had to leave quickly. It was still a better place to spend an hour than by my gate.

I was in the second row for my next flight, so I got a footrest instead of a wall. The footrest was a bit better than the wall, but too high to be really comfortable. First row passengers were required to put away their bags, but I was able to get my backpack tucked away enough that I could keep it. I did not find the second row nearly as roomy as the first.

This flight was very quick. I just had a water for my beverage while the guy next to me put away a couple of beers. I noticed several business class flyers taking multiple snacks from the offered basket and repeatedly ordering beverages. I didn’t feel that was necessary, but I’ll keep it in mind for any future longer flights.

what the heck is this?

La ciudad blanca

Like at CDMX, I was one of the first off the plane, so luxurious! However, I had quite a long wait for my bags. I’d grabbed a luggage attendant upon arrival at the luggage retrieval hall, so he was standing by ready with a trolley.

A taxi to get home is now a whopping 400 pesos. I don’t care what a great job the driver does, I don’t tip. This is extortion. A friend recently landed in Helsinki and couldn’t believe it cost her 30 euro to do the 20KM trip from the airport, then calmed down when she learned I spend 20 euro to do the 10KM trip home. I couldn’t believe the water on the streets as we pushed north from the airport. There’s been unprecedented flooding.

I got in just past 7:00 pm, and my sitters were waiting with a really good lasagna, a perfect end to a very special and nearly perfect travel day. Gracias, Aeroméxico!

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June 2024 Adventures in Quebec and Ontario (with a bonus July 1 memory)

(Post 256 of 263)

There’s a new direct flight between Regina and Montreal on Air Canada that is more expensive than the old Westjet route of going through Toronto. I will pay anything to never go through Toronto again and was grateful Air Canada was in better shape than Westjet. The payment system for food was down,  so it was free food for all!

YUL, like the rest of Montreal, is perpetually under construction so arrivals were complete chaos with long queues to be picked up. I found a door for my mother to pick me up at and after repeated calls, I told her I was staying put and she’d get to me when she could. It wasn’t until we were finally reunited that we both realised we should have met at arrivals instead.

I arrived early evening on the Saturday, so we caught up over beer and pizza from my favourite place, then I called it a night.

Sunday, one of my sisters and my brother showed up with their broods, as did my other sister’s younger boy. It was fantastic to catch up with everyone and meet nieces and nephews for the first time! Of the ones I’d met, some remembered me, most didn’t.

Monday was la St. Jean Baptiste, Quebec’s national holiday, so everything was shut tight. I took a vacation day and lazed around, planning my week ahead.

Tuesday, we headed into Montreal so I could do some shopping of items I can’t get locally in Mexico and which really can’t be ordered online. The first item was rain boots for wide calves. I do have rain boots of the type meant for mucking about in the garden, but they are not comfortable to walk to Pilates and back in. After seven years here of being held hostage when it rains, I was not coming back from Canada without urban rain boots that fit properly! I did considerable research and found a promising model with an adjustable calf that was in stock at Tony Pappas, a well-known Montreal shoe store: the Amanda II Tall by Bogs. I was dropped off near the store and was back out waiting for a lift before my mothers even had a chance to park! Talk about luck. I really did not expect the boots expedition to be that easy.

Next, I needed a specialised bra store because I have the fun situation of needing cups that are very small relative to my band size, so there’s literally nothing in stores for me in Mexico and I’m tired of buying ill-fitting bras online that I can’t return. J.A. Bouré Coursetière got me sorted very quickly. That was a really pricey trip, but at least now I know my size and what to look for when I shop online. This expedition also took no time at all, so I walked the couple of blocks to the Marché Jean Talon to join my mothers for lunch.

Exterior of Métro Jean Talon

This being a bit of a touristy spot, the food options were $$$ and a bit bougie, but I was delighted with the spicy tuna onigiri I found for only $6.50 as it made for not just a delicious but also very filling lunch. While there, I also grabbed some maple syrup and candies for my sitters back home, happy to find the syrup in a miniature traditional rectangular can.

I was then dropped off near Métro Mont-Royal to go book hunting while my mothers headed to La grande bibliothèque. I bought a book a while ago from a French bookstore in CDMX not realising that not only was there a volume two, but also that volume two was out of print! There are several used bookstores on Mont-Royal, so the plan was to spend an hour going from store to store in hope of finding my book. Well, luck struck three times and I found my book in perfect condition at the first store! French books are ludicrously expensive, so even used they are not a bargain. I therefore only got one other tome and called it a day.

La grande bibliothèque is just a few métro stops away from Mont-Royal, at Berry-UQAM, so I was able to see how the Métro has changed since I started taking it in the mid-1990s. As it turns out, you still have to buy single tickets from a real person at a booth, but you can pay with a card, and the tickets are now $3.75. Instead of a little ticket that you promptly hand back to the attendant for the turnstile to open, you now get a card with a bar code to insert into the turnstile. Keep your card! The machines of old that issued “correspondences” are gone.

The station looked exactly as I remembered, but the cars have been updated. Those of you who follow me on Instagram saw the video of  a new Métro car entering Mont-Royal station (swipe or click right to get to the video).

You can access la Grande bibliothèque from inside Berri-UQAM station. The signage is excellent.

We were beyond done by this point because the traffic in Montreal was worse than its usual terrible. They need to figure that out. Mérida is going that way. 😔

Our final stop of the day was St. Jean-sur-Richelieu’s Enterprise branch for me to pick up a rental car.

Wednesday morning, I headed westbound towards Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes region, where I lived nearly 25 years ago. My destination was the lakeside summer home of my friends K&T who winter in Mérida. I really appreciated the new extension of Autoroute 30 that meant I did not have to go through Montreal. The toll is only $3.75 in each direction and worth every single penny.

I really took my time and the long way around, taking Highway 401 all the way to Brockville before heading north and meandering my way through cottage country until I got to Highway 7. It had been so long since I’d driven it that it was completely unfamiliar.

I stopped at the Subway in Sharbot Lake for lunch and was delighted by the creative menu, not expecting to have pork tandoori with habanero cheese and pickled jalapeños in such a tiny bump in the road.

My friends live deep in the woods, so they met me further down Highway 7 to lead me down the scary-in-a-rental-car road to their beautiful property. 🫣

They have a chihuahua who never had any use for me, but he ended up on my lap several times while I was there! 🥰

Like my Haven stop, this brief lakeside interlude was just what I needed from my trip to Canada.

Thursday morning, I followed T into “town” to attend the exercise class that she gives once a week. A lot of it was similar to things I do in Pilates. The stretch was most welcome ahead of the long drive back!

To return to Quebec, I took the more direct route through Ottawa since I had to be back by 5PM to return the car. I only stopped at the Harvey’s in Casselman for lunch. I remember their burgers being fantastic, but that was back when they were the only real option for a veggie burger. The beef burger and onion rings were meh, but I love that you can pick your toppings, which have really expanded to nearly match Subway’s offerings. I went with my usual relish, mustard, and tomato, but added pickled jalapeño. I do not remember pickled jalapeño being so readily available back when I lived in Canada! There are also a lot of habanero offerings, even at Tim Horton’s!

Friday morning brought a surprise. I’d checked the tracking on my box and it wasn’t going to arrive until the day after I left. But Canada Post came through for me!

I took a vacation day again on Friday, but did borrow my mother’s bike to get some grocery items that are difficult to find in Mérida:

-Patak Indian sauces (sadly the IGA did not have all varieties on my list)
-tomato paste in tubes
-packet gravy
-onion soup mix
-Better than Bouillon

Really, that’s all the staples I’m missing at home. There were a lot of other things that caught my eye, of course, but I’m trying to live where I live.

After dropping off the groceries, I got back on the bike again to go have lunch at a traditional pataterie. This was my third time on her bike that week. My hometown is very bikeable, flat with tons of bike paths, a real joy to tour around in. I have a bike in Mérida, but it’s so dangerous and time-consuming to get to the enjoyable biking areas that I hardly do it anymore.

For lunch, I went all out and had both a smoked meat sandwich and a poutine. I cannot believe I only had real fries once on my whole trip! But at least they were the real deal. This was so good and is what “home” tastes like.

Friday night, my cousin met me in the late evening and we went for a walk along the Richelieu River at the site of Fort Chambly, which looked pretty under the lights.

Saturday’s lunch was another item on my food bucket list for the trip, a real bagel from St. Viateur! My mother mixes all the toppings — capers, smoked salmon, dill — into the cream cheese, a superior method than layering everything.

My sitters kept me updated about the goings-on at home and sent me this sweet shot of my girls having accepted the strangers into their home and being able to relax around them:

I don’t remember what I did on Saturday. It was rainy and I probably just took a vacation day. Oh, my younger sister and her new partner came for dinner, so it was great to catch up with her and meet him, as well as see my eldest nephew who had missed the party on Sunday.

Sunday, I headed to the sports store where he works as I needed a pair of hiking shoes. He’s well trained and knowledgeable in the products his store carries, so after having me try on a half dozen pairs, he found the perfect thing, and well under budget. I was so proud of his professionalism!

Monday was Canada Day, so everything was closed. I took a long bike ride and got back to an invitation from my younger sister to have dinner at her house so I could meet her stepkids. They were a delight, and I was thrilled to have a chance to see the home she and her partner are renovating.

It was then time to try to go to bed early for a 5:40 wakeup call to start the long journey home, the part of the trip I was most excited about! All will be revealed soon enough. 😉

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June 2024 Adventures in Saskatchewan (Spoiler: Avoid Westjet!)

(Post 255 of 263)

After six years away, it was time to return to Canada this year to attend to a few things in Saskatchewan, check in on my property, and then visit my family in Quebec. This was a weird trip to organise. A lot of it was contingent on being able to get a rental car, which was contingent on being able to renew my expired driver’s license. I was also so busy with work in the weeks leading up to it that I just didn’t have time to plan. There was also a bit of existential dread around the whole affair, considering how I always get interrogated when I return to Canada — was this the entry where I’d end up arrested?! So I won’t pretend I was excited about it, but I had to go since I’d lined up sitters from France way back in January!

My sitters brought real champagne!

I had no choice but to use Canadian airlines to get myself to Regina then on to Montreal, so I packed very light to do carry on, with the plan being to have checked bags when returning home on Aeroméxico, the only part of the trip I was super excited about, which you’ll understand why when I relate that adventure. 🤭

My new and improved luggage setup. Suitcase smaller than the one I went to Europe with, backpack a bit bigger (but still personal item sized). I also had a small cross-over purse for hands-free access to things like my phone and passport, which I could tuck into the backpack.

Wednesday, June 19th, a prescheduled Uber driver showed up at 6AM to take me to the Altabrisa ADO station for a 6:45 bus ride directly to Cancún’s terminal 4, where I would catch a flight to Calgary. I was then to transfer to Regina, where I’d arrive at 2AM. Ha ha ha ha ha. SURPRISE. In anticipation of a strike, Westjet rerouted me to Edmonton with a flight to Regina Thursday morning! They gave me no notice to explore other options and too late to cancel my room in Regina.

At any rate, the first part of my trip to Canada was great. The bus ride felt really quick and we got to the airport nearly 5 hours before my flight. This was my first time at the Cancún airport and I was not impressed as everything was a cash grab. It is apparently one of the most expensive airports in the world to be stuck in. After wandering a bit, I found a restaurant tucked into a far corner where I could sit with a burger and beer for a couple of hours and not be rushed out the door like at the Puck and Fieri restaurants in the main food court area.

I had a middle seat for the flight to Calgary, but it was surprisingly not as miserable as I’d expected. I chose to buy food on the plane rather than get a sad sandwich from the airport. To my surprise, there were no sandwiches on the menu, just hot dishes. I picked a curry with rice and it was surprisingly good and felt like exceptional value for the 11CAD price point.

I met a lovely young man from Veracruz on the plane who was on his way to far northern Alberta to work as a camp counselor. I was amazed by the start he was giving himself in life – he’d learned English, taken classes, and successfully applied for a Canadian work visa. This was his first time leaving Mexico, and I knew he had nothing but great things ahead of him. He was stressed about the immigration process and spent the entire flight reviewing his documents over and over again. I tried to talk him off that ledge and have him focus on all the amazing things he was about to experience.

We got to Calgary on schedule, past 9PM and it was still daylight. I have missed the long northern summer days! Arrival was just like at pretty much any airport in Canada nowadays — no service, no signage, total chaos. We now have to do the declaration on a touch screen upon arrival rather than handwriting one on the plane. It was then time to go speak to a CSBA agent. This is where everything changed for me and will greatly affect how I feel about future returns to Canada. Of all my anticipated scenarios for my encounter with CBSA, this one didn’t even make the list, it was so improbable. There was a precheck of documents before being sent to a booth with an agent. For the first time since 2011, a CBSA officer barely scanned my documents and told me I was clear to go. 😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲

In a daze, I headed out to find a Westjet agent when the boy from Veracruz waved me down. “Rae, Rae, they let me in! It was so easy! I’m spending my summer in Canada!!!!!!!!!” I still feel emotional thinking about it. I’m so pleased his arrival was so painless.

WestJet had no one available to help all the hapless Regina-bound customers. It would have cost them so much less to have a minibus waiting for us in Edmonton to take us to a hotel than to get all the negative publicity from dumping people at a completely shutdown freezing airport in the middle of the night.

Edmonton did have a ton of comfy-ish couches to sleep on, but ran pointless announcements all night long that I think are purposely played to discourage folks from sleeping at the airport. I settled down to try to sleep at 1:30 and gave up at 5:00 when the airport started to get busy.

Morning in Edmonton

I had breakfast at the Chili’s and the server got a huge tip for bringing peanut butter with my pancakes, correctly asserting I’d need the extra protein since I’d not eaten since my curry on the plane.

We arrived in Regina late morning and I headed to the hotel, a short distance away. Check-in was at 5PM, but I hadn’t been able to cancel the room, so it had been held for me. I had a quick shower then looked for a nearby place to renew my driver’s license. In Saskatchewan, you do that at insurance agents, so I knew I’d find something close by. Sure enough, there was a place a 15-minute walk away.

The neighbourhood around the hotel was so neat and clean, with streets and sidewalks in perfect condition and lots of green spaces. I hadn’t realised until that moment how much I’d been suffocating in Mérida despite being aware that I desperately needed to get back out in nature.

Regina has a large population from India and all the people I saw that first morning back were from that part of the world. I remember the lack of diversity in Saskatchewan when I first arrived in 2008. It’s incredible how quickly things change. It was humbling to go from being a minority in a foreign country to a minority in my own country.

The license renewal process was mostly painless, but there was a bit of it that reminded me that I while I might enjoy trips back to Canada, there is no way I’ll ever live there again. I’m not going to go into that rant; the travel part of my holiday was positive and I want to focus on that.

I was then going to get a few things at the nearby Walmart before renting a car, then realised that I was too exhausted to think straight enough to buy shoes, never mind drive a car for the first time in three years. So I headed back to the hotel, but stopped at the Co-Op grocery store to get a quick lunch and some snacks. I don’t miss Canadian food prices, but I do miss the supermarkets with the huge variety and freshness of products. Back at the hotel, I had some “sushi” with fabulous veggie and fruit trays, and then passed out for a nearly four-hour nap!

Feeling much better, I got online and reserved a car, going with the only company I’ll rent from if they are a choice, Enterprise. I got a taxi back to the airport and picked up the car there, an absolutely effortless process. The price was only $107 to have the car until my departure on Saturday morning, which felt like a steal.

It was dinnertime when I got back and the nearest restaurant was Indian. I decided to order a ton of food to have leftovers for Friday since the room had a fridge and microwave. All of this with a generous tip cost me $70, and I could have had four meals out of it.

Friday morning, I had breakfast at the hotel buffet and then headed on the road to visit Haven! It felt so good and comfortable to be back behind the wheel after so long. The kilometres passed quickly and effortlessly as I sailed across my beloved Prairies. Saskatchewan really is my home in Canada. I stopped at the post office in Assiniboia to get a prepaid box, with the plan being to ship a few things to my mother’s house rather than risk checking them with Air Canada.

My property looks pretty good! There was a lot of mouse poop in the buildings, though. The RM (rural municipality) put the dumpsters on my lot in exchange for the grass being cut, a very good deal! I couldn’t believe I’d made it back and was thrilled that my two neighbours were there so we could catch up. I really hope to eventually put a house on this lot so I can come back for a month or two every year. It’d be good for the soul. The trick is to fly into Calgary and then drive from there (eight hours) since flying to Regina is consistently a hassle.

I packed up my box and after a few hours it was time to head back to Regina as I had a 2.5-hour drive ahead of me. Unfortunately, the box was a bit heavy, so I had to take out some items that, thankfully, I knew would fit in my carry-on suitcase.

The return drive was equally painless, but I was fatigued by the time I came in. I was so pleased I didn’t have to go back out as I had a feast awaiting me in the hotel fridge!

Saturday morning, I wasn’t flying out until 11AM, so I had a bit of a lie-in before enjoying the complimentary breakfast again. Pretty basic, but the coffee was exceptionally good.

I dropped the car off at 10AM and the return process was as painless as the pickup. I only had to put $40 of fuel in. Fuel is the same price as in Mexico, so no sticker shock there, about $1.70 per litre in both SK and, spoiler, Quebec. And that is where we are headed next!

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Half of June 2024 Highlights

(Post 254 of 263 – please scroll down for the May highlights posts as I doubled-posted on July 3rd.)

I did about 6 weeks of work in 3 weeks in June and somehow managed to completely deep clean my entire house (right down to emptying all closets and cleaning inside) in preparation for my housesitters arriving. My house cleaner only ever did surface cleaning, so this was a much overdo project to make sure the house felt fresh for them.

For that project, I decided to invest in a Dyson vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter as I knew that would do a better job at deep cleaning than the usual wipedown. I can’t believe I’m going to share this pic, but I am just to show you how worthwhile it is to invest in good tools for your home. 🫣

Major rain was incoming by departure time, so I was smart and did all my laundry well ahead of my sitters arriving so I could set up their suite. They said they were delighted by the HUGE bedroom and how clean everything was. The guest bathroom really needs a full gut as I find it feels a bit “grotty,” but a brand-new cabinet made a surprising impact.

The pineapple lamps in the guest room never fail to crack me up.

I had a bunch of errands to run in the neighbourhood one morning, so I treated myself to breakfast at the market here in Chuburná. You know you’re a local when the server brings your order and a giant bowl of picante with a comment of “So you won’t have to ask for more.”

On the subject of local food, I found a taquería, Sagrada Parilla, that has what I think might be the best nachos in the city. They use high quality ingredients (the cheese is especially good) and do a northern-style al pastor without achiote. The salsas are incredible. The red one in this photo is tamarind based and that perfect mix of salty, sweet, and spicy. Pineapple is extra, but necessary.

June cat pics:

The sitters said they would have a rental car, so I needed a place for them to park, a reason for needing to get rid of Moya as I’m storing a friend’s truck in the other covered bay. When Moya left in May, I discovered that the automatic door for the bay in which she was stored wasn’t closing correctly. It would hit something at closure and think there was an obstacle, so it would reopen. So I had to make sure maintenance was done on it ahead of the sitters’ arrival. There’s a place just up the street from me that services my door motors, but they were absolutely impossible to get ahold of. I tried all the phone numbers and even rang the bell at the business, but no one answered. I asked my neighbourhood Facebook group if anyone had any recommendations and all I got was those guys “but good luck getting ahold of them.” So I branched out and asked in an expat group. Several people responded with the same guy, who is across town from me. I was getting a bit desperate, so I messaged him anyway. He replied immediately, “I’m literally around the corner from you. Can I come right now?” 😲 In less than 45 minutes from posting my question, the work was done, and that included my racing to Walmart to get some cash as he doesn’t take transfers. There was no repair to do, just basic maintenance, and all it cost was 700 pesos! I’m so pleased to have a “garage guy” in my contacts now as I have two other doors that need maintenance!

The most interesting thing that happened to me in June pre-trip is I got new glasses for the first time in 12 years!!! I had been getting checkups regularly, but didn’t have enough change in my vision to justify getting new glasses, especially since I had so many pairs to use up. Now that I was down to a final pair with no backups and that I needed new prescription sunglasses, in addition to having some problems with transitioning between near and far vision developing in the last few months, it felt time to change. I also planned to drive on my vacation for the first time in three years, so I wanted to make sure my vision was healthy enough to do that.

I was of course a little bit last minute for this project, so I went to Gran Plaza, where there were several optometrists, and picked one that could take me right away, had affordable frames, and could guarantee my glasses within a week. I was delighted to learn that a huge part of my new vision changes is I no longer need glasses for close-up vision! But there is just enough change in my far vision that the optometrist felt it would be good to upgrade my prescription to reduce the work my eye muscles have to do to go from near to far vision. He was spot on. I ended up not having the usual adjustment period with the new glasses. He was also very respectful of my budget and suggested this lightweight frame with clip-on sunglasses. Clip-ons have come a long way. These attach magnetically and you can’t tell that the sun lenses are removable. There wasn’t a lot of choice in this model, but I found a pair I loved.

Ahead of my trip, I got a haircut and treated myself to a manicure. I love these dark colours, but they just don’t last on the fingers, so I’ll go with a lighter, more natural, shade next time. The salon is just around the corner street from me, so I’m on strict orders to make this kind of pampering a more regular event!

This takes us to June 17th. Take out your passport for the next couple of posts!

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May 2024 Highlights

(Post 253 of 263)

This May post is going to be very boring, but come back tomorrow for the onslaught of June travel posts!

The most interesting thing that happened in May is that I said goodbye to my trusty Ford Ranger Moya. As a permanent resident, I’m not allowed to drive a Canadian-plated vehicle here, so I always knew I’d have to let her go. That really felt like I was closing a chapter in my life.

With the new buses, it’s much easier to be spontaneous. One night, I decided I wanted to go out. I walked around La Plancha for a bit and then ambled up to El lucero del alba for beer, botanas, and shrimp tacos. Unfortunately, the changes since the “corridor gastronomico” was constructed meant this popular cantina just isn’t what it once was. 🙁

Unless I’m at one of my usual spots, I have to request “picante.” This one was exceptionally good and I ate the entire amount!

This ad is at the bus stop across from me. Talk about understanding the culture in which you are advertising! Always makes me laugh.

One of the most exciting things to happen in May was the new ie-Tram route near-ish me came online. No pictures as I went after dark. It is a fancy electric bus that runs on smooth new roads. I did not know it was possible to travel so comfortable in Mérida! It is a 20-minute walk to catch it, but then I get easier access to some parts of Centro than I do by taking the regular bus.

I rode to the end of the line and walked a few blocks west to Little India MID where I had one of my best meals in Mérida ever. I love that they had a tasting plate (thali) so I was able to try things like beef vindaloo without committing to a whole portion (the heat level was surprisingly fine on that, but I’m not a huge fan of beef).

Obligatory May cat pics:

With vacation coming up, my clients SLAMMED me starting about mid-May straight through to two days before departure. That included seven days of a “real time” trial in May, so those are very long days and pretty much consume my life.