Wednesday, November 30, 2005

A Milestone

Tonight on my way back to the apartment from my evening walk, to the Independence Plaza, I was hailed by some folks in a car who, in Spanish, asked me directions and I was actually able to give them directions, also in Spanish. I strutted the rest of the way home.

Also today, my landlord, Sr. Monsreal, gave me my first electric bill which came to $105. pesos for 149 Kwh of usage. The bill was for the period of mid-September through mid-November, so I wasn’t here for 15 days of the billing period. None-the-less $105. pesos is about $10. in U. S. dollars. The electric utility is publicly owned and in the month and one half I’ve been here there has been only one outage that lasted only a couple hours one morning.

This morning I walked to the Municipal Market and bought some seeds for a larger variety of tomatoes than the Roma type tomato plants I’ve already started and onion seeds. I also picked up three heads of garlic, the cloves of which I planted in the garden this afternoon. I can also report that the mango and papaya trees I transplanted are doing well after a brief period of transplant shock.

Life is rough.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does that include A/C? I would imagine so, since otherwise you would be complaining about the 90 degree heat and humidity.

DB

You Know Me said...

While there is a through the wall air conditioner in the bedroom, I have not yet turned it on. Ah but you under estimate my tolerance of the heat and humidity El Macho Grande. I think sweating is good for me. My apartment actually stays fairly cool since it has windows on only the North and South walls and the North windows are shaded by a long overhanging roof. Of course, I haven't been here in May and June, the warmest months of the year here.

The electricity operates the lights, refrigerator, TV, two ceiling fans downstairs which until the last three weeks I used frequently, and my laptop. The stove and hot water heater, which I share with Joel's apartment, use natural gas, which I turn on in the morning and Joel or I turn off within an hour or two. The gas, water, and garbage are include in the monthly rent.

I told Sr. Monsreal that if thinks I should pay extra for the water I use for the garden he told me to use all of the water I wish. Joel tells me that there is so much water here that it is very cheap. As you probably know, the Yucatan Peninsula is limestone laced with underground rivers and cenotes.

Anonymous said...

We snorkeled in some of the cenotes when we were there in the eighties. There was one right on the coast (I'm not sure where) in which the fresh water flowed out on top of the salty lagoon water, so there were tropical fish in two distinct layers and separate species.

DB

You Know Me said...

Let me know if you happen to remember where it is. It sounds like somewhere I'd like to visit.

Anonymous said...

I remember it was down a dirt road and we had to clamber through some mangrove roots to get in the water. there was a seafood shack with fine sauteed grouper.

I'll try to remember where it was. We covered a lot of territoy, including down the coast south of Tulum until the condos ended.

It's probably now a Marriott.

DB