Friday, November 17, 2017

Business is Just an Excuse

Writing a blog after leaving your location is just not the same. But, here goes - 

Paying the fideicomiso is way too modern and easy these days. It took a short walk down Calle 62, a quick stop into a location close to us, and it was done. We miss the ringing the doorbell at the back door, gaining entrance up the back stairs, a wait in a cluttered office filled with paper, and a struggle through Spanish, and keeping our fingers crossed we aren't met with a puzzled look. No more getting the piece of paper that has to be taken downstairs to a teller window, followed by more Spanish, and an exchange of pesos, and ending with a piece of paper and a muchas gracias. Now it's to handing over pesos and a muchas gracias. 

But, it does allow for more time hanging out on the mirador...where, by the way, we saw probably two dozen parrots of all sizes fly over one afternoon. We shopped, in fact we shopped so much, upon our final departure we had to bring home another piece of luggage filled with a gorgeous hand-loomed bedspread and two colorful hamacas. This is something we have wanted to buy for quite some time but never wanted to lug around. This trip was the one to bite the bullet and buy and lug. 
Harbor and Isla putting the hamacas to use back at Ranchito LaErmita

We sunned on the beach in Progreso where we never saw our favorite vendors. We don't know so we are only hoping it's because it's the slow season and they just weren't out and about. We cooked chicken, carrots and rice, we had cocktails on the mirador, and we made our exit from the casa on a much happier note this time. Back to Playa del Carmen on the "fast/directo bus" of only 4 hours duration. We arrived after dark and made our way the 7 or 8 blocks to our new, little hotel find and stayed for a couple of relaxing days and nights. We watched the Astros win the World Series here, lounged on the beach, and ate awesome Peruvian food at El Oasis. Then, we made the trip over to Isla Mujeres for a final 5 night stay up above the street in our rather large and comfortable room with a great lookout balcony. We ate, we drank, we sunned, we golf carted around the island and then did it all the next day and the next.
We put that extra suitcase to good use - Terry ended up with an awesome pair of handmade leather tie shoes in addition to the two hamacas and a bedspread I have been wanting for years. Terry surprised me when he went into buying mode and bought me a necklace with a compass pendant. I say surprised me because I spotted it two steps into the jewelry store but if it wasn't for his great negotiating skills I never would have ended up with it. The sales guy put it around my neck and I laughed and told him my husband would never go for the price. He might as well take it off. He had been beckoning us in his shop each day we passed by. Terry had gone back to the room to get more pesos out of the safe. The price on the tag was $17,800 pesos. Terry got the price  down to $200 pesos. Sometimes you just have to ask for what you want. I don't think I would have even gone into the jewelry shop nor do I think Terry would have bought the necklace except for those crazy drinks at the Soggy Peso. The extra pesos were for cigars while watching the sunset, not jewelry. 
One of our Isla Mujeres sunsets...each one is magical

Life is good and thank goodness we have "business" to use as an excuse. 


Friday, November 10, 2017

Hanal Pixán...Dia de los Muertos...a Dad and a Mom

Celebrations marking Dia de los Muertos started with 57,000 people walking from the cemetery through our little neighborhood of LaErmita and ending up in the park of San Juan just a few blocks up the street from us through the arches. The Paseo de las Animas was on Friday, Oct. 27th about the time we were watching the Houston Astros win while sitting in a sports bar in Playa del Carmen. The parade was the first of several celebrations of death. There was a day to honor lost children. Next day, it was for adults followed by a day known as "All Soul's Day" on Nov. 2nd. There were altars filled with food and flowers, there were parades, and there were church services in the jardine. We saw school children carrying baskets of fruit and other goodies along with material to construct altars at school and feed the souls of the dead. Here in Mérida, they refer to it as Hanal  Pixán. If you don't speak Mayan, that translates to "meal for the souls". Here in the Yucatan, it's all about combining the Mayan traditions with the Catholic beliefs.

As for us, we wanted to come down here for Dia de los Muertos and for our own closure concerning the dead. We have accomplished getting closure. It all started back in the summer when I had hurriedly left out of Mérida on a Sunday during our last visit. Mom had been taken to the hospital where she had a second surgery due to her CHF. I almost didn't make it through the airport when I was called back to Customs due to a glitch and my own forgetfulness about exiting and re-entering the country when we went to Belize. I ended up giving them all the pesos and all the dollars I had to get to board the plane. I was crying when I rushed to board the plane, but the flight attendants gave me hugs and assured me all would be ok. I think I knew at that moment it wasn't. Upon arrival at IAH, I drove to the hospital in Temple that Sunday afternoon and spent the night in the room with Mom. On the following Monday in early afternoon, I received a call from Terry. His mom had called him to tell him his dad had died. That meant he was going through the emotions of losing his dad while alone and responsible for securing the house, paying bills and doing all the last-minute things we generally do before heading out. He spent that last night in Mérida alone before boarding a last-minute booked flight on United direct to IAH. He doesn't remember a lot of those last hours in Mérida. I drove to Kim's from Temple on Monday evening and Tuesday morning we were waiting at IAH for Terry. One parent was in the hospital while making funeral arrangements for another. We ended up saying good-bye this past summer to two parents - Terry's dad and my mom. Coming back to Mérida on this trip was for two reasons - to pay the fideicomiso at the bank and to give us some closure - to do some grieving and make sure we really did turn off the lights and lock the doors. It turned out we had a celebration of two lives lost because that's what you do during Dia de los Muertos. Being in Mexico helped us see death as a new beginning for those that pass on and it helped replace our feelings of grief and loss with joy as we realize our parents have gone on to a better place.