Happy New Year

 

WARNING: this post is boring, so if you skip it, you haven't missed anything!


Negrita. She has worked her way into a daily routine...as soon as we open the downstairs door, to get a breeze through here, she comes yowling up the stairs. We are NOT feeding her, but she seems to thrive on the attention. You know she has moved into Stuart's heart when he took his early afternoon nap, not on the sofa because the cat was stretched out there, but on the bed. Too early for the hammock to be in the shade yet.

We had a most lovely day. First, I got a kiss and a big smile from the old man who helped bag my groceries, in my bags, at the Soriana. Then, I walked down to the big mercado, just to poke around. I enjoyed just wandering, not on a mission to buy anything. I saw places that tourists probably don't get to, like the chicken sales area, and the shoe repair area, and the hardware area. On the way out, I stopped at El Campeon, in the fish section, to buy some ceviche para llevar, and Sr. Fernando Sosa gave me a gift...a clock, with the name of his establishment on it! You could have knocked me over with a tortilla! And, his ceviche mixto was delicious, you can bet we'll be back there for more than one meal. While at the mercado, I remembered a few things that I didn't pick up at the Santa Ana (cilantro and lechuga), and listend to conversations around me. Everything I bought was exactly what the locals paid. Hey, I don't always know when they see gringodollars in me. On the walk home, no street people tried to get me to go 'chopping' in their stores.

The ceviche was really good, lots of lime and squid and shrimp, we've found our local ceviche source, that's for sure. Even without thinking about the gift! I got some great recommendations from Theresa in Merida about fabric shops and food in the afternoon, and lots of notes from my amigas back home, wishing me a happy new year. Stuart and I had pork chops in adobo cooked on our little grill, with a great mixed salad for dinner, after having a nap in the hammock and reading on the patio. Then, we played cards, and he soundly beat me before I quit. It truly was a most lovely day!

The firworks started about 9pm, across the street. A couple of small kids squealed with every BANG, and soon went in to bed. We both fell asleep, only to wake up to hear the Big Event begin. I watched the fireworks from our patio, and decided that the big display must have been coming from the park at the beginning of the Paseo Montejo. Folks here don't care so much for the visual, but LOVE the big boom, and they boomed until after 1am. It's very quiet today, they're all recovering from last night.

Here are a few things I learned last year:
1. Never leave the house without my camera and a water bottle.
2. Always paint the risers on steps a dark color, to hide the inevitable scuffs.
3. My gardens need regular watering.
4. My friends really do love me.
5. If it's going to happen, I have to schedule it. I'm talking about the conversation that begins with, 'one day, I'd like to.....".
6. The water from hydrating chile seco is good flavor for most anything.
7. Sitting around encourages sitting around. Doing things encourages doing things.

Happy New Year, my friends!
k