Currencies

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On Mexico Time

My headphones crapped out on me last week so finding time to search for a replacement was high on my list. I made do with my Sony earbuds, which I use to listen to music on my mobile devices, but my ears ached after a day of transcription with them and I could still feel them in my ears after they were out. But where to find a decent selection of headphones in Mazatlán? Back home, I’d head to Amazon…

I pondered this problem, searched for headphones (auriculares and audífonos) in Maz (thinking there might be an electronics store like Best Buy), and, based on my search results, decided to start with Office Depot.

Getting there today was a bit of a drag. Holy smokes. I didn’t head out until about 1PM because I wanted to make good inroads on my day’s transcription, which was difficult. I figured that I’d be at Office Depot within an hour. Well…

I waited and I waited and I waited for a bus to take me there at the corner of Juan Carrasco and Gutíerrez-Najera, to no avail. This was something like my fourth (and LAST) time doing this. I know that the buses I want pass there, but they are obviously very irregular and I’ve never caught one at this corner. So I schlepped down to Paseo Claussen to grab the tourist bus that goes up the Malecón. As I did so, a bus that could have taken me right by Mega (nearer to Office Depot than the tourist bus) whipped by so fast that I didn’t have time to flag it down. Augh!

The tourist bus took forever to come. By the time I got settled in one of the last seats, I’d already been gone more than an hour. Traffic down Avenida del Mar was, of course, terrible and so the ride was slow. I hate to sound so negative, but I have no idea how anyone can rely on the bus service here to get anywhere since there are no schedules and the routes change so frequently…

I got off just past the Rafael Buelna roundabout so I wouldn’t have to cross the busy road on foot, then I headed right for the bank. The exchange rate is just getting worse and I couldn’t even take out $4,600, settling for $4,200. I went into the bank to get my $500s broken up and this time asked for $200 worth of change. I had written it as “$200 of $1, $2, $5, and $10, doesn’t matter how many of each,” and that seemed very clear because the teller just started counting out change.

Unlike in Canada and the U.S., Mexico doesn’t seem to have “rolls” of coins, like 10CAD worth of quarters, for example. Instead, she made a pile of $100 worth of $5 and $10 coins then held up a large baggie marked “$100” and asked if that was okay. Inside were $1 and $0.50 coins, which was perfect. If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that I didn’t get any $2 coins and instead got $0.50 coins, but that was absolutely fine and fulfilled my objective of having small change. I’ve been getting by just fine with my stack of $20s, but having exact change gets me out of restaurants faster.

I was shaking by the time I got out of the bank, having failed to get some lunch first since all the restaurants along the stretch I’d walked were closed. I decided to try the Sole Mar café next to Scotiabank since I’d heard they make great coffee and a midafternoon espresso sounded wonderful. I ordered it “con panna,” which I vaguely remember meant it’d have whipped cream, which was correct.

 

espresso

It was rather decadent (and broke my rule of not having sugar in my coffee), but really lovely. 🙂 For lunch, I took a chance and ordered the enchiladas mole, knowing full well they’d likely be some fast foody microwaved disappointment. I was half right in that they were fast foody, but, dang, they were tasty! The chicken was well seasoned and the sauce had a bit of kick. I didn’t mind the $75 I paid for them at all even if I knew I didn’t get much value for my meal (no veg with it, for example). I think the espresso was $30 or $35, very good value. There are a few Sole Mars in Maz, including one near the cathedral, so now I finally know where to get a coffee in town!

Then, I hit Office Depot, where they had a good selection of headphones in several brands and quite a price range. I knew I’d find what I needed there. I pulled out my phone and started researching the various brands, narrowing down my choices thanks to Amazon reviews. I don’t buy super expensive noise canceling headphones no matter how much my clients tout them. I’ve tried them and they are over rated. I buy midrange headphones, never spending over 50CAD, and get a new pair every couple of years. My budget for today was hopefully no more than $600. One pair by Sony was only $349 (29CAD), well rated on Amazon (including by two transcriptionists who swore by them!), and a better price than if I’d bought directly from Amazon. Sold!

I like shopping at Office Depot because I tend to be left alone until I express a need for help. After about a half hour of going through the headphones and looking up reviews, I was ready for help because the pair I wanted were locked to the shelf. I just had to look up and around and, boom, there was a clerk ready to assist me. He unlocked them and took them to an available cashier who checked me out smoothly. I then had to show the security guard my receipt and I was out of there.

Since I was right by Soriana, it made sense to get a few groceries and paper goods. I had a laugh with the bagger at checkout when I told him to be sure to put my cold stuff in my insulated bag because the last time I bought butter there without having the bag, I had a mess when I got home!  Thankfully, there were taxis waiting outside, so I was able to get back to the embarcadero quickly. I didn’t need a taxi on this side.

I can’t believe it’s already 6PM. I still have another hour or so of transcription to do and I’m just about ready for dinner. My errand took way long than it should have and was a good example of an afternoon where I would have been much better off springing for the pulmonía in both directions.

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Mexican Currency

I am using cash exclusively in Mexico simply because the places where I shop don’t take cards. In one way, this makes it easy to budget because I see how much money I have and can divvy it up to last me as long as I intend for it to last. The downside is that most places don’t give a receipt, so it’s hard to keep track of exactly where my money is going, although, really, most if it is ultimately food

I’m learning what coins and bills are the most useful to have on hand and which are a pain.

The worst at the 500 peso bills (brown). Think of them as as $50 bill. I can’t think of any place on Isla where I would feel comfortable pulling out a 500 peso bill unless I was buying at least 400 pesos worth of something because most place just don’t have the change for them. For my situation, the 500 peso bills are so hard to break up that I feel like I might as well have no money. I do like them for paying rent, though.

Next are the 200 peso bills (green). Think of them as a $20 bill. I feel embarrassed when I have to pull one out for a purchase that is less than 100 pesos and have been frequently told by vendors that they can’t make change for them. They’re not as bad as the 500 peso bills, but I still feel hampered when that’s all I have. I was glared at yesterday when I bought my 8 peso panga ticket with a 200 peso bill.

Next are the 100 peso bills (orange). Think of them as a $10 bill. I don’t have any problem spending them, although I was embarrassed at the City Deli the other day buying 9 pesos worth of veggies with a 100 peso bill and the gal had to scramble to find me change.

Then, there are the 50 peso bills (red). Think of them as a $5 bill. These are great! I seem to make a lot of purchases that are about 50 pesos and I’ve never had trouble spending them.

The last bills are 20 pesos (blue). They are like a toonie and very useful, too, especially for tips at a restaurant or buying a beer or ice cream!

And after that, you get the 10 peso coin, which is like a loonie. This one is invaluable! So many things cost 10 pesos or so, like a panga ride, a 5-gallon bottle of water, or a bag of peanuts.

Next, you have a 5 peso coin, which is like a 50-cent piece. Very useful for buying tortillas!

Finally, there are 1 and 2 peso coins, which are like a dime and a quarter. These are best saved for tipping.

There are also smaller coins for centavos, which are a division of the peso. I’ve been given them as change, but have never been asked to provide some, with partial amounts rounded up or down to the nearest peso the way that we do in Canada now that the penny is out of circulation. I give those plus a peso or two the grocery store baggers.

I am getting more comfortable with the currency, especially when it comes to telling the coins apart. The 10 pesos have a gold border and a silver centre and are slightly larger than the 5 pesos, which have a silver border and a gold centre. So they would be easy to tell apart even if they were the same size. I’m still struggling with the 1 and 2 peso coins, which are essentially identical except for size, and more than one honest person has told me I gave 2 pesos instead of 1!

There are also 1,000 peso bills and 20 peso coins, but I’ve definitely not seen the former and fairly certain I have not seen the latter.

Except for blogging purposes, I rarely feel a need to convert pesos to CAD to decide if I want to buy something because I already have a very good idea of how far my money can go here and what’s a reasonable price or not. I am thinking of going to Walmart tomorrow to buy a proper computer chair and for that I will likely do some currency conversion, but for groceries and basic household items, I know that the price is so low I don’t have to worry about how many dollars I’m spending.

It’s really much more important to know how many pesos I’ve spent so far that month and how much month I have left to determine if I want to buy something since the currency conversion was done at the ATM and those pesos are out of my CAD budget anyway.

Spending a currency that isn’t dollars or pounds is a lot of fun, to be honest. The novelty hasn’t worn off yet! But, yes, it still feels like I’m spending ‘real’ money! 🙂

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Mexico Liability Insurance and My First Pesos

Canadian and US car insurance isn’t valid Mexico. You need to buy at minimum liability insurance from a Mexican company. I asked Croft who he uses and he gave me the contact information. Unfortunately, after one online request for a quote, one email that was not replied to, an unreturned phone message, my not thinking to stop into their Tucson office, and the Nogales office being closed on weekends, I had to look for another option.

A quick Google search found Don Smith Mexico Insurance, better reviewed than the company Croft uses,  just minutes walking distance from the motel, and open Saturday mornings. I hoofed it up the hill to speak with a nice lady about my needs.

The most important thing I had to keep in mind is that while I will need coverage for 180 days, I am not going to actually do a lot of driving once I get to Mazatlan. I really need coverage for the trip there and back to the border. The small amount of time on the road means the less chance of something going pear-shaped. Moreover, I still have some limited coverage for my own damages from SGI. So I decided to buy a liability-only policy, plus legal aid, for $128USD. For $21, I would have been nuts not to get the legal aid option!

The lady also gave me detailed border instructions. I did a lot of reading about that over the past months and also this morning and have decided to just stop as I am making myself nuts! 🙂 I asked if I should have pesos for tolls and she said absolutely. I really don’t want to lose money by converting my CAD to USD to MXN, so I plan to do a large withdrawal (rent to pay!) at a Mexican bank, but I still want some local currency for tolls and incidentals until I find an ATM.

The lady sent me three doors down to a change house, where things got interesting. The fellow behind the counter did not speak a word of English. I’m pretty sure I’m still in the US and still, I rented my room last night in Spanish and also settled a restaurant tab in Spanish!

I carefully explained that I wanted a few pesos to get me to San Carlos and did he think that 40USD would be sufficient until I hit an ATM? Also, I am Canadian and do not want to lose in the exchange rate, so I will go to a bank and take out pesos with my ATM card once in Mexico. He said that, yes, 40USD in pesos would definitely do me fine for tolls and whatnot and I’ve been correctly advised about using my ATM card at the banks as that would give me a better rate than he could. The 40USD got me 504MXN. I like the peso coins, like our toonies only smaller.

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I thanked him for his ‘ayuda y paciencia’ and he laughed, saying that he could understand me perfectly and that I have a beautiful accent. I’m actually glad to have this pre-border experience with the language as it’s really boosting my confidence. My speaking vocabulary is a lot better than I expected (understanding is almost fluent except in technical areas) and people seem to get that they need to speak slowly. I’m at the point where if I don’t know how to say something, I have enough words to get the meaning across. I really should join a conversational Spanish class this winter and get over the hump of not understanding the spoken language that well!

Finally, I got hold of someone at the landlady’s house, a child. She was not home, but the child promised to tell her that I am planning to arrive mid-day Wednesday. I will try her again tonight because the child and I did not seem to communicate well.

I’m going to find lunch, then do some shopping. I’ve been waffling about buying a desk and chair here in the US, but I find it hard to commit to anything without knowing the dimensions I will have to work with. I think that, having worked fine in hotel room setups this month, I will use what’s there in the apartment to start and will find something locally. I might even be able to get something used. I’ll see what the landlady says. The budget is just really, really, really, really tight this month because I lost a week of income in October due to my client’s schedule and I would really rather not have to eat only rice and beans until the December cheque and PayPal payments come in. 🙂

I’ll be glad once the border fees and rent are paid as that will give me a better idea of what I have left to get me through the month. I’m just not sure what I’ll have to pay to temporarily import my truck. Research says 300USD for a vehicle from 2001 to 2007 and 200USD for a vehicle older than 2000. Notice the gap there? I have a 2000 vehicle. Is it going to be 300USD or 200USD??? I believe my tourist visa is going to be 25USD.

So border tomorrow. OMG. I am going to spend two nights in San Carlos to arrive on schedule on Wednesday at the apartment as the landlady and I had discussed my arriving the 5th. I’m surprised to be meeting that deadline! I know I need to hit the border early and it opens at 6:00, but I really don’t see myself there that early. It’s going to be a normal big travel day for me where I won’t want to eat, but I really should take the time to relax with a coffee before the fun starts. 🙂

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Canadian Math

One of the frustrations of working on the US/Canada border at a park where everything runs on loonies is that Americans get very upset that they have to use Canadian currency, notably dollar and two dollar coins. I just can’t figure out why Americans get so irked at having to use these coins, but it’s really quite ridiculous. They would rather stuff four quarters in a machine than one dollar. Some say that loonies are ‘heavy.’ (Hint: they are lighter than four quarters.)

Today, a lady put four quarters into the carwash that takes just loonies and then came in to complain that the machine doesn’t work. When I told her she should have put in a loonie instead of quarters she said “What’s the difference?” (Hint: quarter means ‘one fourth of something’.)

So, a quick run down on the three most used Canadian coins: Four caribou (quarters) will get you a loon (loonie/dollar) and two loons will get you a bear (toonie/two dollars).

Here are some irksome comments I’ve heard from Americans:

“Loonie is a stupid name for a coin.” I explained that it came from the loon that’s on the coin. To which he continued. “As I said, stupid. No one knows or cares what a loon is.”

“Toonie is a stupid name for a coin.” I explained that it came from the nickname for our dollar. To which he continued. “As if the name wasn’t stupid enough, your coin has two colours.” And that’s stupid because?

Finally:

“Your money looks fake.” To which I replied that at least it’s not ugly.

Any Americans reading this want to chime in as to why Americans find Canadian money so offensive?