It has been a pretty uneventful week, which is just fine with me. The weather is glorious, though we tend to get some rough winds here on the beach every few days. It was stormy Saturday night, and the power blinked on and off a couple of times in the wee hours of morning. When I got up yesterday morning, I saw puddles in front of every sliding glass door and window that faces the beach. The wind was so strong, it blew the rain in through the cracks. Today the sun has returned and the ocean has calmed.

I’m getting a little more used to the bike. I rode into town last week for some produce and fresh tortillas (which were DELICIOUS).

Huevos Motuleños and tacos with fresh tortillas

On Saturday I rode to a tiny store called Wee The North. They have pantry items from America! And they take special requests. I don’t know what Mexico has against grape jelly, but it is impossible to find here. The stores have strawberry, blackberry, and marmalade. That’s about it. So imagine my delight when I spotted the unicorn. It looked a little rough around the edges, but I bought it anyway. It’s also difficult to find straight up chili powder. There’s all kinds of season mixes for Mexican food, but not plain ol chili powder. I bought a bottle of this, too.

I thought it would be a good idea to take the backroads to the farmer’s market today; it was shadier, and I figured I could go at a more leisurely pace. This was not a great plan. I was quite winded by the time I reached the market, so I took my time there to give myself a break. My backpack was stuffed with food which added some extra weight for the ride home. The backroads are a little more shady, but a lot more bumpy and hilly than the main road. Oh, and there’s sand to contend with. While most of it is packed down by vehicles, I did manage to get myself bogged down a couple of times. The trip back was brutal. I was almost home; I could see our building in the distance. But I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I pulled over and sat down, because I thought I was going to puke. I didn’t though, and after several minutes, I was able to hop back on the bike. While the main road is sort of nerve-wracking with cars speeding past, the terrain is much more preferable. Lesson learned.

I did find one positive thing about being on those side roads. I met Roberto, who was selling seafood…from the trunk of his car. I know, I know. Sounds super sketchy, right? In Nashville, yes. Here in this tiny fishing village, it is quite common to find fishermen peddling their seafood in the streets as opposed to selling to markets. Probably more profitable for them, since the market has to buy cheap and mark up the cost for customers. Roberto told me his seafood would be much cheaper than buying at market. Having never bought seafood here before, I have no frame of reference. I guess I’ll find out next time I go grocery shopping. He had some beautiful stone crab claws and frozen shrimp. I estimate each package was about 1 kilo each, and for this I paid 900 pesos, which would be about $44 US. Not bad. Roberto’s English is decent. We exchanged numbers, and he told me to give him a call when I needed more. So I guess I have a seafood dealer now. 

I’m reading lots, studying lots, doing lots of homework, and binging lots of HBO. I was able to Zoom with book club last week, which was fun. Neither Reagan nor I can watch This Is Us live right now. Last Wednesday, we got on Hulu, Reagan in her apartment and me on the beach, and pushed play at the exact same time. Texting each other while watching the show was one of the highlights of my week. We plan to do this every week until I’m back home. 

I’ve extended my trip by four days. This way I will be returning on a Saturday instead of mid-week, and I’ll have a couple days to get my bearings before returning to work. There are 47 days left here in Mexico and 63 days until spring. Espero que tengas una buena semana (I hope you have a good week)!