Getting Back in the Groove

Since arriving Monday night we have stayed busy doing such mundane things as:

• Getting to know our water guy....he comes around each Tuesday and right now he thinks Terry speaks absolutely no Spanish and he correctly knows I speak very little. He tried to explain the bottle deposit system and Terry totally lost it with him. The exchange ended with Terry opening his palm where he had a handful of bills and letting the water guy take the money he needed out of his hand.
• Unfortunate iguana kill. Sadly, the iguana that has been residing in the house was very sick when we arrived and Terry had to finish him off with the end of the mop handle....I know, he felt really bad about it. We think he may have gotten into the roach poisoning from the hotels we had set out. Terry was extremely sad about it because he knows a pet iguana can be quite a girl magnet at the beach in Progreso.
• Shopping. We have made several trips to the Chedraui to stock our cabinets and learned Clasico toilet tissue smells up the bathroom like a cheap men's cologne....we bought it yesterday and are currently worried since so many chemicals are bound to affect our butts in some unpleasant way...but they sure will smell good!

• Finding the closest Cerve Frio. We have visited our neighborhood Cerve Frio store.....several times now. The Mayan propiertor makes me feel like a giant and he has a most pleasant smile. Terry likes him because he upsold him on buying a 12-pack for 120 pesos compared to buying the usual 6-pack for 70 pesos.
• We have learned all the city bus routes we got to know so well last trip down mean absolutely nothing now. That's the bad news. The good news is the reason they changed is because all the sidewalk construction taking place in Centro before is now complete and most sidewalks are wider with fewer potholes.
• We've experienced the truth of beer first-hand. It was a relief to learn the end of the world is NOT about to take place as the Mayans have predicted. I now agree with the woman we met in Ohio.....the Mayans just got tired of chiseling and stopped when they got to 2012.

• We have learned a queen-size mattress is something of an anomaly in Merida. Sorry to report we had to settle for a matrimonial that is to be delivered today (Sat.) at medio dia (mas o menos). But Kate and Kim (our first visitors) will hopefully be glad as the alternative was an inflatable we found at the Wal-Mart.
• Most of the neighbors and the city workers next door are the familiar to us....it has been nice to start getting reacquainited.
• I, as usual, have had my bout with turista. As long as I am around the house I am good to go....just let me walk and get 4-5 blocks away and it hits. Nuff said. I'm ok with it becasue I know it will last the first few days and then my system gets used to the foreign bugs and I can eat any street food I desire.