April 20, 2016 by Rae

An Excuse For a Final Trip to the Mercado

I’ve started packing in earnest and have discovered something surprising. I’m going hiking next week and, guess, what? While I do have suitable footwear, I not only do not have any clothes for the occasion, but I don’t have my leather backpack that I use on day hikes! I guess I was so focussed on the cannonball run south that I never got as far as thinking that, hey, I might have time to go hiking on the trip north!

So I made a mental note to pop into a Walmart or, preferably, a thrift store when I get across the border to pick up a cheap backpack when I had a thought. Every single time I’ve been to the Mercado, and this includes last year, I’ve wished for an excuse to pick up a cute woven backpack… Well, this was the time to go see how much those cost! And yay for an excuse to do one last trip to the mercado!

I enjoyed my second to last lancha trip over, especially since we got a show:

Rather looks like a pirate ship from this angle, no?

There is a brand new “no fumar” notice on the steps. Particularly funny when there’s a jerry can above it!

Here we are at dock. Nothing fancy. The captain gets off first and holds the lancha tightly against the dock so people can get off. He also offers a hand for those who are unsteady or wrangling very full skirts. *whistles innocently*

Looking down to the dock. The ticket booth is in the centre (taquilla). To the right is space for vendors on the weekends and holidays. The doughnut lady was set up right in front of that guy with the blue shirt, in the shade. Usually, she’s on the street corner.

This is behind me in the last picture. It’s much busier on weekends, holidays, and some evenings, with fish vendors, more produce sellers, food stalls, and more.

Coming out onto Emilio Barragán I either turn right towards the gas station in the distance if going to the Fisherman’s Monument for a bus or to the bank/big Ley/big Waldo’s.

But today, I turned left towards Centro.

When I come home from the little Ley or am just going there, I cut through the alley next to the fishing supply store.

See the grey tower in the background? That’s the Pacifico brewery. I walk along the far side of it (calle Miguel Hidalgo) to go to little Ley.

I cross here to take Leandro Valle to get to the mercado. The perspective on this shot is a little off. The yellow building on the left has the white wall with green writing and is on one corner of Leandro Valle. Across from that, the pulmonía is parked at the other corner. So I cross here (good place to cross because there are topes and so traffic stops) then continue on down Leandro Valle.

Here’s the first, flat, section of it. I love this little community. There’s always something going on and people sitting on porches. Everyone is friendly and says hello.

The upper green sign made me laugh. She’s selling shaved ice, raspados, and didn’t have quite enough room to spell out the word. 2=dos. See what she did there? 🙂

The mix of houses on Leandro Valle is interesting. You have this run down place…

Next to this rather posh place.

These folks make ice. A truck backs right up to the opening. There are “steps” carved into the wall for getting up and down.

This water seller on a bike is probably in great shape. He gets those bottles to the top of the very long and very steep Leandro Valle hill! It’s very slow going. No, he does not pedal up, but rather pushes.

This is one of the nicest houses on Leandro Valle and is owned by an expat lady.

The house has many levels. I like the exterior because it respects the neighbourhood. It’s neat and well maintained, but doesn’t stick out. It’s what I want to do in Mérida, get an older (ie. affordable) place in a more rundown neighbourhood that I can spruce up without changing the character of the neighbourhood/gentrifying. When I spoke with folks from Mérida about my plans to move and my wanting to avoid the expat neighbourhoods, many spoke with derision of this gentrifying effect many expats have, buying super inexpensive homes and turning them into luxury compounds, driving up prices in the neighbourhood. That’s not the kind of expat I want to be.

I don’t think I’ve ever passed this house when this dog wasn’t napping on the steps!

The house is in a great location because it’s just blocks from the mercado. However, it’s right at the top of the hill (so uphill all the way home). I bet being at the top of the hill lowers the value on the house somewhat.

And right next to it is another house that has seen better days.

These folks repainted their house this year. Nothing shows pride of ownership more than a fresh coat of paint! I love the bright colours houses are painted here.

I survived the climb. Now, downhill all the way to the mercado!

Pretty flowers growing out of a foundation.

Nice house next to a ruin. I’m not sure if these façades are salvageable. There is no roof or floor behind that wall.

Looking from the corner of whatever street (no signage!) to the little Ley on Melchor Ocampo.

I love, love, love the yellow paint matching the tiles on this house. Notice there’s not only a house number, but…

An apartment number specifying “downstairs”!

A couple of busy corners later and here I am at the corner of Leandro Valle and Aquiles Serdán.

Shops along Leandro Valle across from the Mercado (heading towards Benito Juárez). Tony’s Burgers is the first door into the Mercado.

Tony’s is where I was going for lunch, but I wanted to do my shopping first. So I headed down, knowing that about two thirds of the way to Benito Juárez is a shop with the backpacks I wanted.

They only had one on display and it was hideous, so I asked if they had more. A sales lady led me inside and showed me a stack. I was surprised that the bags come in shades other than beige or bright red, green, and yellow. I immediately zeroed in on this pink and purple one and asked her if I could examine it more closely. It didn’t have “Mazatlán” written anywhere on it, which a lot of otherwise nice bags have (I don’t like my clothes and accessories to advertise where I’ve been), so that was an immediate plus. I was immediately struck by the quality. The seams were solid and there were lots of little details I hadn’t expected.

Like the flap for the pouch in front opening to reveal a zipper!

The top flap opening to reveal a draw string:

The straps on the back being sewn in such a way that you can easily hang the bag from a hook:

And the very copious storage space:

I asked how much and was shocked that the answer was only $130! I felt cheap trying to bargain that down, but replied with $110. She countered after a long second with $120 being her absolute best price. Wow! Only 9.24CAD!

She asked if I needed anything else and I said that I got what I came in for. She laughed and said that was very obvious and that it was a pleasure doing business with me. Another great mercado shopping experience. I wish they were all like that. The pushy vendors are so unpleasant.

My business done, I retraced my steps to have a shrimp burger at Tony’s. I haven’t really been in the mood for that kind of thing since I got back from Mérida (no tortas, no burgers, and barely any tacos!), but it seemed appealing today. I could have done with half the bread (so I left half of it) and no crema, but the fresh grilled shrimp, veggies, guacamole, and stringy cheese (plus the addition of chiles curtidos) really hit the spot!

I finished my last trip to the mercado by going to my favourite aqua fresca vendor, who is inside the mercado off of Aquiles Serdán, and got a whole litre of guava water! It was so hot that I drank the whole thing by the time I’d retraced my steps to the embarcadero!

I know I won’t have time to go back into town again, so thus end my Mazatlán adventures. It’s been fun! I can’t believe I’ve spent nearly a full year of my life here!

April 10, 2016 by Rae

A Backwards Day

Normally, I work in the morning and go play in the afternoons. But a tianguis Juárez day is backwards since you want to beat the crowds and get there before all the goods are picked over. So I had a lazy morning, going so far as to take my coffee back to bed, before getting ready to go out. I tried on one of my new blouses with a slim pair of black capris and the difference to the fit compared to my flowy black skirt was amazing! So I decided to wear that outfit even if the fabric weights were a little heavy for a day that was already hot and sticky at 7:30 a.m.

Needless to say, the brief lancha ride to town was woooooonderful. I’m almost jealous of the captains who get to spend their day going back and forth. 🙂

Since this was a “special” day, I treated myself to a doughnut from the vendor at the embarcadero. Don’t miss her if you see her. Her doughnuts are always fresh and never taste of rancid oil, with just enough cinnamony sugar to make them a fluffy treat.

I walked to Júarez last time, it’s only about 3KM, but since I knew I’d walk for a couple of hours there, I didn’t want to be completely wilted at the start. $7.50 for a bus that goes right by the embarcadero just makes sense in these weather conditions. I got on the first bus marked Juárez and the driver stared at me for a second before asking me in English where I was going. I replied in Spanish, “To Juárez, like it says on your windscreen…” All he could say to that was, “Oh.” Strange…

I have a routine now when I go to Juárez. I get off on the edge of the tianguis (flea market) part and go up and down each aisle, oggling clothes and other wares, until I find an agua fresca vendor, and then walk some more in the area. This time, I found a rare vendor who has a smaller size (poor value), but this meant I could get another flavour later and also not have to spend all my time holding a huge cup. My first one of the day was guava (but of course). I then continued exploring the aisles, even though I wasn’t really in a spending mode. It was just fun to see what was on display. I did keep an eye out for the flip-flops I normally buy at the City Deli, but which they don’t currently have in my size.

After about an hour, I headed to the interior market, where I knew I could find a clean bathroom, and then I was ready for tacos! I have my preferred vendor for those and, thankfully, they weren’t too busy, although I was unable to get a seat. I ordered two tacos with everything, confirmed that spicy was fine (whatever they call spicy isn’t), and then did my best to elbow my way to the condiment counter, but failed. A cook took pity on me and asked what I wanted. I said guacamole and salsa mexicana. He put enough of the former on, but not enough of the latter. When I asked for more, he said, “¡Picante!” and I just had to laugh before telling him to go ahead. Two very full and delicious tacos there are just $30! They’re the best deals on tacos I’ve found thus far in Maz. I then went across the street to get a litre of lime agua fresca.

Once I’ve had my tacos and done a circuit of the shops, I’m pretty much done in. I bought fruit from various vendors and then spotted a garbage bag man. I don’t know if this is unique to Maz or if it’s something seen in all of Mexico, but there are guys who collect for a children’s charity (they have official ID to this effect) and for a $10 donation give you two or three large and super thick garbage bags, the best quality I have ever seen. I put out my trash in little bags from the store, but they can add up when trash collection doesn’t happen (it’s not reliable) and I like to consolidate the little bags into a bigger bag for easier handling. Plus, I have yardmates now who have their own trash, so we share a larger bag. Anytime I see a garbage bag man, I “give a donation” so I can have a few of these big high quality bags on reserve. I’ve even flagged one down while sitting in a pulmonía at a red light!

Then, it was time to see if I could get home on the bus without going a million miles out of my way. I flagged down a bus that I thought went by the embarcadero and asked if the driver if that was the case. He said he would go “close” to it. Always the adventurer, I hopped on and started reading the Noreste newspaper I’d picked up at some point. As we approached the corner of Gutíerrez-Najera and Gabriel Leyva, about two blocks from the embarcadero, I had a feeling the driver would turn onto Gutíerrez-Najera, so I signaled to get off. Good thing I wasn’t relying on him to tell me when were close to the embarcadero because I was right! So first successful bus trip home from Juárez!

My yardmates were home from a week away to Guadalajara when I got in around 11:00. I wish I’d made it to Guadalajara at some point, but it was not meant to be.

Now, I need to get to work…

April 9, 2016 by Rae

Torrid Afternoon in Centro

I’ll be well on my way to the border this time in two weeks… I really have no idea where this winter went. 🙁

Having only an easy job to do this weekend, I planned my schedule so that I could go to Centro this afternoon for shopping and lunch and do a final run to Juárez tomorrow morning.

It is hot and muggy this week, but I’m not letting that stop me from living. The trick is to stay hydrated! So once I was done with work around noon, I dressed for town and headed out.

En route to the embarcadero I finally remembered to take a certain picture. Remember this house from last fall?

house under construction

Here it is today:

What a difference paint makes!

First stop in Centro was the mercado since I wanted to buy some blouses. I went to my favourite dress shop, where the owner can be trusted to be honest about what styles and colours suit a customer best. What she first showed me was exactly what I wanted, but she pulled out other models so I could be sure. They are a bit too big for me, though, so she suggested that I find someone to put a few darts in the sides for me. Hopefully, the dressmaker I used earlier this winter will be available to do that for me this week. “My” price was $280 for one, $500 for two. I’ll probably pay about $100 to get them fitted correctly. Still a bargain for such high quality clothing! The pink one is the same shade as my pink dress, so I wasn’t going to get it, but the owner said that it’s my colour, something her assistant and several friends have echoed so I caved.

For lunch, I had thought to do a shrimp burger at Tony’s, but I’m really fastfooded out. So I bought a small agua fresca for the walk to the Water’s Edge Bistro for a nice lunch in their courtyard. They still have their lunch menu with several choices for $120 each, including a beer, limonada, or a soft drink. I opted for a limonada to stay well hydrated and asked for it sour. It was made perfectly and was very refreshing. For my meal, I succumbed to the lure of pesto (basil!) and Parmesan cheese to have their penne pasta with roast chicken. It was a bit of a heavy meal for the weather, but the flavours were most welcome and I liked how the chicken was diced and then caramelised on all sides. The food is so good at the Water’s Edge and the portion sizes are just right. It’s a nice spot for lunch when I’m tired of Mexican flavours.

I then wandered towards the water and popped in at the art museum to see if it might be open. I’ve been meaning to go for ages but knew that it’s tiny and not worth a special trip out. Well, it was open and admission was free!

The art was… strange. The museum only has a few rooms and the art just got odder and odder the deeper in I went. Here are a few things that caught my eye. None of these are the truly strange ones!

This one is called “night filled with love”:

Lovely landscape.

There were a lot of variations on this theme of dying and moving on to the next plane of existence.

There is something about this one that spoke to me for some reason, even if I wouldn’t want it on my wall!

The museum has those dark ceiling beams I love:

I liked these black and white pieces showing the harshness of poverty:

The courtyard of the museum had an interesting tree:

This is an exterior corridor off the courtyard:

And here’s the entrance, directly across from Macaw’s:

I eventually made it to the Malecón and caught this image of Mazatlán’s Icebox Hill with an iconic pulmonía in the foreground:

Found this house for sale that made me rethink my Mérida plans (*winks*):

I eventually found myself on Miguel Alemán, from which I turned left onto Carnaval to head back to the embarcadero. I popped into the gelato place I like, where they’ve up their price from $25 to $35, and got their delicious “Snickers” flavour (chocolate, peanuts, and caramel), then enjoyed it as I picked my way down several streets that were under construction to eventually end up on Constitución, which led me straight to the Emilio Barragán a few blocks from the embarcadero. I was done in by the time we got to this side and the final schlep home felt very long!

March 10, 2016 by Rae

Impromptu Walkabout

Work has been in an unexpected lull this week so after finishing up a small project this morning, I decided I might as well go to town for exercise and a change of scenery. Including the bit here on Isla to the embarcadero and back, it wound up being an 8KM walk:

I decided to head to the Mercado first to get an agua fresca. I don’t think it’s a good thing that I’ve found a reliable source of something with pink guava flavour… But at least there is real fruit in there so I’m getting some fiber with all that sugar!

While coming down the giant Leandro Valle hill, I finally remembered to take a picture of this lovely passive-aggressive sign:

It says, “We will puncture your tires for free!” Basically, we’ll slash your tires if you park here and block our entrance. I couldn’t believe what I was reading the first time I saw it and so the first time I spotted someone coming out of the parking lot, I actually asked if my understanding was correct! I phrased it along the lines of “Are you having problems with people parking here?” I learned the verb ponchar in this context in Mérida as I would frequently pass a building with a sign right above tire spikes that an entrance was not for cars and that their tires would be punctured.

From the Mercado, I meandered my way down to Olas Altas and crossed over to take the Malecón. I had had a brilliant idea on route. My riding friend Joan had suggested that I try the roasted chickens at a place I pass frequently on Gutíerrez-Nájera, but never on my home. So I decided I would walk the Malécón to Gutíerrez-Nájera and then stop at the chicken place to get a chicken for a late lunch, with leftovers for dinner.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever taken a picture of her before, but she seems to embody my spirit. I really love this statue.

Notice that one of these condo owners put a giant roller shade/awning outside his south-facing window?

I was surprised that no pulmonía drivers flagged me down as I walked, enjoying the sunshine and warmer wind than we had yesterday (brr!). I perused the wares of a few vendors without being harassed. It was a really lovely walk.

There are two chicken places on Gutíerrez-Nájera and the one I wanted was the second one in this direction, just before the Red Cross (Cruz Roja) building. The advertised deal is two roasted chickens for $120. I asked the price for one and it was $65. The lady confused me a little by quoting the price as “six-five,” though. Her chickens are roasted in a cage that goes around a heating element. She selected one at random, chopped it up for me, and bagged it up with a giant pile of tortillas and some hot sauce. It smelled wonderful!

It was then a short distance to the embarcadero. The captain saw me coming up to the ticket booth and waved to let me know he’d seen me and would wait. One etiquette thing I have learned is that if you board the lancha after everyone else, you need to greet everyone by saying buenos días, buenas tardes, or buenas noches, depending on the time of day. I’ll be honest and admit that I always feel silly doing it, but I always get a reply back from at least a couple of people on the lancha and more than a couple of smiles. It was another very long and choppy ride back across the channel.

On this side, I remembered to take a picture of the City Deli’s new paint job. Wow! It makes it look so fresh! The inside has gotten a bit of a spruce up, too, with better produce, coolers with more beverage options (I can get a cold Electrolit now), and even a freezer with some frozen foods (I think I saw fries). I don’t think they carry beer anymore, though. I know there was a problem with their liquor license and maybe they’ve decided not bother with alcohol anymore. Anyway, I can get beer much closer to home!

I came in and tried the chicken. I disagree that it is better than the weekend chicken lady here on Isla, but I’ve gotten good at timing when to get the best chickens from her to avoid the not sufficiently marinated and possibly not cooked enough ones. The Maz ones would be a lot more consistent since they are commercially prepared. I found the chicken a bit salty and dry in parts, but still very good. I pay $55 for half of a scrawny chicken here and I paid $65 for a decent sized full chicken from the Maz lady, so just for that, it’ll be worth making the trip over the next time I want chicken, and I’ll probably get two. Needless to say, I have way more leftovers than I expected. But, hey, I got all those tortillas, so I’ll go get a can of salsa verde Saturday to make enchiladas.

Not tomorrow? No, tomorrow I am going to get my revenge…

March 5, 2016 by Rae

A New Dress and Lunch at El Fish Market

I went back to town today in search of my friend’s elusive publication as I had finally ascertained that it was going on sale today. I left around 11:30 after doing some work.

The embarcadero on the Maz side has had a new ramp since I got back from Mérida. Was very pleased to see that since the old one was starting to get scary.

The lady who works the deli counter at the City Deli was on the lancha with me and asked if I wanted to split a pulmonía. I was tempted, but I really did want the walk so I declined. She was taken aback by the fact that I was going to the Mercado on foot and said, “In this heat?!” I replied, “It’s just normal heat…” “Well, you’re strong!” I’m not the only “walker” I know who has no trouble doing so in this weather. Just stay on the shady side of the street if possible and hydrate!

I got to the Mercado and asked a few vendors about the publication, but no one had heard of it, unfortunately. I know that it’s a European newspaper with an online American edition, so it’s probably like getting a UK newspaper in Canada where you can only find one at specialty shops in larger cities. Hopefully, I’ll have better luck with a digital edition.

Next stop was a dress vendor. I really love my pink dress and always get so many compliments about it. It is a very flattering style on me and I have been thinking for weeks of trying to find another one that is very similar. Here’s the pink one:

It has some really nice embroidery at the bottom:

And the bodice has some gorgeous detailing.

I sort of remembered where I bought the pink one and started in that corner of the Mercado. A vendor immediately zeroed in on me. I said I was looking for a dress like the one I was wearing, only in dark turquoise or dark blue. She said, “¡No problema!” and pulled this out. Seriously.

It is very, very similar to the pink one, but has some differences. The hem embroidery has hearts:

The bodice has embroidery instead of the lacy panel insert and cords:

But the sleeves are fancy and have the same type of insert as the bodice on the pink one:

Here it is on me with my huge Mérida hat! By the way, I look like a tourist dressed like this! Mexican ladies might do a lot of makeup, heals, and fancy hairdos, but they are still usually in just jeans and a nice top.

I asked the lady how much and she said $380. I had driven a really hard bargain to get the pink one for $330, so I countered the $380 with that number. The lady immediately said yes. So either she was conceding that I knew what the dress was worth or I could have gotten a better deal. Who knows. But I’m happy with the price! A couple of weeks ago, it would have been a 28CAD dress, but today it’s just 25CAD! 🙂

Next stop was lunch. Contessa has raved many times about both grilled dorado (mahi-mahi) and the restaurant El Fish Market, so with her having been to the restaurant recently, it was on my mind. It helps that I’m still “meated out” from Mérida and only in the mood for fish, seafood, and beans. So I decided to go check out the restaurant. I requested the Spanish menu after being handed the English one. It’s a bit more work, but it’s good vocabulary practice. I was surprised that the prices were as reasonable as they are. There were lots of choices under $100 and I think the most expensive platter, a whole grilled octopus, was $200. Beer was $22.

Everything looked delicious and it took quite a bit of time to decide on the grilled dorado. I was really tempted by octopus, but the most appealing way they offered it was in a taco, which wasn’t what I was in the mood for. Plus, I’ve heard so much about the dang dorado that I really needed to see what the fuss was all about!

The dorado was $150 and a very generous portion came lightly seasoned with soy sauce over a bed of romaine lettuce with chipotle coleslaw and potato wedges. The fish was absolutely perfect, so flaky and juicy, with a nicely caramelised bottom. I’m always nervous about creamy coleslaw because of mayonnaise, but this one was too good not to take a chance on. It got spicier and spicier the more I ate it. The potatoes were disappointing, though, as they are the stock frozen McCain seasoned wedges that I’ve seen at many stops between northern Yukon and the Yucatán. I had one bite of them and that was it. Had this meal had a nice rice pilaf it would have been a 6/5 (really), but the potatoes put it at a 4/5. I am very likely going to have this meal again one more time and I will ask for it without potatoes but with a couple of corn tortillas instead.

Yummy lunch with a view!

My bill was a mere $172! I really hadn’t expected El Fish Market to be this affordable for this type of restaurant. Service was really good, too, closer to what you get NOB, with the server being very attentive and checking in on you. I gave him $200 and he came back with a pile of change for me to make it easier for me to sort out a tip (smart kid). I told him to keep it all and he was obviously very happy with that. It was about a 16% tip, not great for back home, but very good for down here as 10% is the recommended amount. I usually tip around the 15% mark unless the service was particularly bad.

For the trip home, I ended up getting a seat on the fancy lancha with a bathroom. For this one, the captain sits at the front and has a wheel and a throttle (I’m not a boater, so excuse me for getting the terms wrong). It was a lot more work to navigate than just using an outboard motor and docking was difficult.

It was another great day in Centro, days that are numbered, I’m afraid… The urge to have a cold beer on the Malecón will not be ignored from this point forward as who knows when, and if, I will get a chance to do that again once I leave next month…

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Markets

An Excuse For a Final Trip to the Mercado

A Backwards Day

Torrid Afternoon in Centro

Impromptu Walkabout

A New Dress and Lunch at El Fish Market