Saturday, November 29, 2014

GROCERY SHOPPING AND NEW FRIENDS

It's been a bit of a down week for the three of us.

Although Cassia was feeling a little better last Wednesday - her illness still lingers. Whereas she had a fever, Derek and I have had colds. We are now in the coughing up a lung stage, which hasn't been made better by all the moisture. We are the hacking Wood Clan now.

So, we've stuck pretty close to the van - practicing our sloth techniques. We went to the beach today for only the second time this week! 

We REALLY needed to go shopping last Monday, but with Cassia so sick we delayed it until Tuesday. Instead of the morning - we went in the evening when it was a bit cooler. And, instead of taking the combi there and taxi back we took the taxi both ways. 

We didn't suffer on Monday however, there are a few positives to living right behind a restaurant. I did mange to round up something for dinner but we supplemented that with deep fried calamari.

A few posts ago, Leslie - one of our Australian followers, asked about the products available at the grocery store.

We did do a post on that last time we were here but I thought I would take the camera along this trip for some more info on the Commercial Mexicana.


This picture of the exterior is from last time - I keep forgetting to take a new photo of the exterior. We really like that the Commercial Mexicana has a Scotiabank ATM. LOVE that there are Scotiabanks in Mexico, which is our bank in Canada. We only pay 9.50 pesos to take out money.


Really good prices - and selection - on the cream cheese.


I don't know that I have seen a larger selection of yogurt than I have seen in Mexico! However, plain yogurt without sugar alludes me. It might be there somewhere but I haven't found it yet.


$3 for hummus - but I'm tempted….


Oh, if only we had a full sized fridge!


A fairly large Asian sauce section.


Even sushi kits!


Lots of foods brought in for the tourists - we noticed the same thing in Mazatlan. There isn't much you can't get here as long as you want to pay for it.


We don't purchase these items - it's just not worth the cost to us. We don't need it - we quite enjoy using the basics.


A closer look at the Maple Syrup - boy, you've really got to LOVE it for $30!



Lots of ready made items.




Got bugs?! We were in this aisle for mosquito spray. We ended up with a small bottle of lotion for $5 - guess we should have stocked up.


A mountain of beer anyone. Makes me wonder how you are supposed to get the beer - wouldn't there be an avalanche eventually?


Two options for beef - here and in the pre wrapped section. We go with the pre wrapped - we haven't been disappointed with the beef here in Mexico. These cuts look to be out of our price range.


We came because we needed food - but what we really wanted was a FAN!

Strange right. We don't even have a house to put it in. No matter - nothing like taking the edge off the heat somehow. We got the idea from our neighbours who all seem to have them. 


Bad picture - again! We opted for the fan on a stand - and went with the cheapest - 258 pesos - so just over $20. Well worth the investment - especially since we'll probably need it this summer as well.


At home update: Ahhhhhhh……..


Cassia at the check out line. After a couple of hours we were all happy to finally be leaving. Lucky Cassia, she got a Kinder Surprise box with chocolate AND a plush reindeer, out of the deal. We thought it was a pretty good treat for less then $10.


Check out lines are the same every where - right?!

So, we really don't mind our shopping trips to Commercial Mexicana - however, we do find the prices pretty high. No real surprise since much of the food caters to the tourists. We could go downtown or over to the Bodega but there is something to be said for convenience. 

Interestingly, places that we have stayed before like Villa Corona and Patzcuaro had much higher camping prices but much more affordable food. Here, what we save on camping will be spent on food. 


Back at the RV Park - we wanted to introduce you to two of our new friends.


First, the El Manglar cat. So lovely. Memo told us it's name but we can barely remember how to say it let alone write it out. No matter - I have my own names of affection. I visit with him mornings before the restaurant opens and Wednesdays when it is closed.


And Cas and I come when the mood strikes us. Looks like Cas lost half of her body weight in a few days of the flu.


And second - no relation although similar in colour - the kitten across the cul de sac. Whiskers, so named by Cas, lives beside the garbage area. 


Which just wasn't good enough for us - so……


now we are officially fostering him. You'll here more about Whiskers as we work to get him to the Humane Society in Zihuatanejo for fixing and medicine.


And speaking of new friends …. remember the family I mentioned last post that came to visit us? Well, here is Erica with her oldest daughter.


Rufus enjoying the attention of the three kids. And vice versa.


Derek saying good bye to Raphael, Erica and family. 


That evening I went for a solo walk on the beach - I think that's the first time - ever. 


Quite the fireball.

So, with this being Saturday night we are at the end of our second week here in Zihuatanejo.

We are finally getting into a bit of a routine and adjusting to the heat - somewhat. All is good except for between 10am and 4pm. The nights are cool - relatively, and we keep the fan on so sleeping isn't too bad. 

Last night we returned to Jungle Pizza for David's hamburgers - very good because they were very filling and a strawberry/vanilla//blackberry lollie cake (ice cream). A nice way to end our down week.

I almost forgot to mention that when Derek and Rufus were on the beach the other night they almost walked right into the crocodile heading to the ocean from the El Manglar Mangrove. It shocked him a bit - good thing he wasn't a minute or so earlier! Guess the crocs do come and go. This afternoon when Cassia and I were checking for iguanas at the restaurant Memo showed us a picture of a crocodile right up by the restaurant patio this morning. 

Hmmmmm……. maybe I don't need to walk to the restroom in the middle of the night…..

Tomorrow night we are heading back to the Cancha Municipal! The Humane Society is close by so we are going to do some research on how to get Whiskers some help.

Hasta luego!

Teresa






Wednesday, November 26, 2014

CANCHA MUNICIPAL

A bit of this and that for you tonight. 

All from our day last Sunday, looking back it was a very busy day for us! 

We spent much of the day at the beach with the intention of heading down to the Basketball Court for  the evening. One of our favourite things to do while in Zihuatanejo.

For some reason it was a movie kind of day - below I have three movies for you.


We spent the morning at the beach but I didn't take the camera. So - here we are early afternoon with Bernie - he came to sell us more Oaxacan cheese. I usually order about 50 pesos worth which lasts us a few days. By the way - rather than me converting pesos to dollars for you, just keep in mind that for Canadian dollars you divide the number by 12 for USA use about 13.5. It shifts daily of course but that's about right for now.

By the way - the fifth wheel in behind is our new neigbour - the fourth RV here now - they arrived last week. Very nice - from B.C. also. Just a little jealous of all that room!


After the cheese - Bernie treated us to some rope work. 


On the way to the beach via the restaurant in the afternoon I got a good shot of one of the crocs. He was a real hit with the restaurant patrons.


Right now Sundays are VERY busy down at the beach with Mexican families.


Around 4:00 pm we headed back to the beach to listen to the salsa music at El Pirata - they have music every Sunday from 3 - 6pm. Looks like this is a musical/entertainment family. I took a movie as well.




As I mentioned - we are usually stationed beside one of the parasailing groups. Fun to watch the take offs and landings. To date all have been smoothing landings except for one guy - I don't think he listened to their commands and came in hard. They all laughed about it after so all was good.



We had a difficult time convincing Cassia to leave her friend from the afternoon. 


Watching the mariachi band guys walk around the water so not to get their shoes wet - they had to take their instruments with them over that branch you see on the left. Always something to watch around here.

After that we headed home and prettied ourselves up for our trip into town. Last year we walked to the Central Plaza. This time we took the combi. 


When we arrived at around 6:00pm everything was set up. We walked around looking for dinner first. I wish this picture had turned out better - for some reason the camera is really hit and miss these days with medium light. Anyway, this is how beverages are displayed - we bought a HUGE cup of watermelon juice with our meal - not from this stand though - maybe next time.


The place we bought tacos for dinner last time was in the exact location as before - Don Oscarito.


As good as last time…


Cassia could barely get to the bouncy castle fast enough. 10 pesos for 10 minutes. 


While she did that and Derek watched, I checked out the dancing at the court. A packed house!


It was then time for more painting. Cas did this the last time we were here also - sadly we dropped her artwork somewhere - this time we were sure to make sure it got home with us. Also 10 pesos.


More dancing. Many performances tonight - so LOVE that about Mexico. 


Her completed painting. I thought it interesting that she chose Ariel. A few mornings ago she actually lost her little princess doll Ariel to the ocean - maybe she wanted to return to being a mermaid. A hard lesson for a five year old to learn about the strength of the ocean. 


Hula hooping little girls getting ready for their performance.


Another traditional dance with very interesting costumes. Here's the movie.



Funny - the dancers were getting ready and this little boy decided to see what it was like in the middle of the court.


The evening ended for us with this Marching Band.

By this point, Cassia said, 'I'm done."

We were done. 

Since we are becoming experienced with the combi we decided to take it home rather than the taxi.

So, we headed back to the main strip by the central market to catch one. Another combi came up for a different location. Derek mentioned that we were waiting for the Playa la Ropa van. Thankfully they told us that it quits at 8:00pm. Turns out it was now 9:00pm. Live and learn - by the time we leave here we'll have it all figured out.

It was therefore a taxi ride home. Not a huge deal - the combi ride is 15 pesos while the taxi is 40 pesos - so not a huge difference.

During that night Cassia had a fever that carried over into Monday night - we aren't sure where she picked that up but we are thinking the bouncy castle and perhaps too much sun that day. She's pretty much back to herself now - Wednesday evening. 

Today, we had a Mexican family visiting us here at the RV Park. We met them Sunday evening. Nice that they dropped in - Raphael and his wife Erica - with their three children -  are from a town just north of here. We asked them what they called going to the basketball court and they said 'cancha municipal.' We've invited them back for a day at the beach - sure hope they return. They have also invited us to their place - we'd love to - after all - that is a generous offer - but it will take some maneuvering with the combis so we'll have to work up our nerve for that.

We enjoy visiting with Canadian and American travellers when in Mexico - but we really enjoy meeting Mexican families - learning about their lives etc. 

Sitting here enjoying our new fan - more about that next post.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of our American friends and followers! The Wood Clan is thankful that we are able to share our life and travels with you.

Teresa




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