I had a reminder pop up today to have my landlady’s husband check my propane levels, based on last year’s usage. Instead of going over there empty-handed, I figured that I might as well bring the February rent at the same time. So I Skyped Scotiabank this morning to have them increase my withdrawal limit for just today so I could make a larger withdrawal and then headed into town.

It took several tries before I could make the withdrawal and I couldn’t even come close to the 10,000MXN I was hoping to take out, had enough for in CAD, and was still within my temporary withdrawal limit. The machine let me take out 6,000MXN and then a further 2,000MXN even though I had well over another 2,000MXN in the account. Anyway, no big deal since I have plenty of cash on hand. The larger withdrawal was more about reducing the amount of time I spend in line at the teller to change bills than actually needing the cash.

Thankfully, the lineup was short today. I asked for $100s and $200s. The teller held up a huge stack of $100s and said that giving me 70 of those would be easiest for her, which was fine by me. She counted a few bills out of her stack, then put the remainder in the money counting machine, which confirmed there were 70 bills. It was insanely quick. Those money counting machines are amazing.

I then headed down to the big Ley to get a few things, stopping at the Chinese restaurant for lunch. I did a huge shop at the beginning of January and only needed a few things, but they were quite heavy like almond milk, yoghurt (my favourite kind was on sale!), and hummus (they only had two containers left!). The shopping wasn’t quite enough to justify taking a pulmonía back to the embarcadero, but enough that I wasn’t relishing the 3KM walk there, plus the walk on this side.

My compromise was to walk to Ejército Mexicano and grab the first bus that would take me to the corner of Juan Carrasco and Gutiérrez-Nájera, cutting my walk fully in half. I waited all of 30 seconds for such a bus to show up and even with the fare having gone up a whopping 50 centavos (0.04CAD), I got my money’s worth out of my $7.50! I had the driver drop me after we crossed Gutiérrez-Nájera so I wouldn’t have to do so on foot, which meant going nearly an extra block before he could pull over. He double checked that I was where I wanted/needed to be before letting me off.

I shifted items around after a couple of minutes of walking, putting a few things in my purse so that I would be better balanced, and then it was then a pretty quick walk up to the embarcadero and then home.

I would need another winter here to really master the buses, but I’m pleased with how much more I’m using them this year. I love riding in a pulmonía and they are really rather inexpensive, but walking and taking the bus is healthier. Even with my bus ride today, I managed a more than 5KM walk, which, when you sit at a computer all day, is as good for the soul as it is for the body. I just notice things more when I’m walking then when I’m in a moving vehicle, plus you get all the smells. That dang churros vendor is going to ensnare me one day, I’m sure!