Life goes on

Leaving your old life behind and going on a new adventure whether you are starting a new job, moving to a new house, or immigrating to a new country; one thing is always the same: You only stay in touch with those who are your "family" despite your and their best intentions. Life goes on for everyone and priorities change. It is no one's fault and we definitely don't take it personally, but it is a fact.

We are now living in our new country and it is not about sitting on the beach drinking beer, despite popular belief. Like anyone living anywhere, daily chores have to be done, cleaning bathrooms, washing floors, doing grocery shopping, fixing cars.

Oh yes, we had to replace the battery on the Ford. That was exciting. As you know, if you read this blog religiously, a few weeks ago, the car didn't want to start and we ended up having to live an extra day at our previous rental... So yesterday we wanted to buy groceries and then again, the car didn't start. Luckily we are not in a rush to go anywhere, so we walked to the store to get the most important food; beer. Herman then YouTubed the heck out of how to remove the battery from a Ford Escape, because it is not under the back seat like an old Beetle or even in the front of the engine, like most normal cars I ever owned. No, it is under the deepest darkest part of the hood and you have to almost pull the engine block to get to it. I obviously exaggerate, but you have to remove the wipers for a start - seriously the wipers. So Herman, being a master at following YouTube instructions, and having packed all his tools, removed the battery in record time and after making detailed sketches of the size, we set out to find an automotive store to buy a new battery. After a roundabout walk, we ended up about 70 meters from our house at a mechanic, where we met a very efficient lady called Mercy. We plodded through with our broken Spanish and her saintlike patience and in exchange for the old battery, she found a brand new one in under an hour for a relatively good price. Crises successfully averted.

Living like nomads for this long, is probably the most difficult part for us this time around and renting a house where we have to "kind of do maintenance" and not really wanting to because it's not supposed to be that kind of rental (usually in vacation rentals the renters don't stay too long, so the management company would do maintenance in between renters, but we are staying for an extended period). We don't have any gardening tools and the owner didn't arrange for a gardening service, so the grass grew really long. We were going to call a gardener, but then Herman and I decided that the back yard is kind of small and it's just mostly weeds, so we would cut it the Mexican way, which is with a machete. So we went to the mother of all markets (Mercado Lucas de Galvez) and bought a grass cutting machete. It works really well. Took us about 45 minutes to do the backyard and we are ready for our Canada Day BBQ!

We wanted to get out of the city and decided to visit the small fishing village of Telchac Puerto. This is the village where we will probably visit the beach once we've moved into our home in Seyé. The drive there is really beautiful along the road next to the Gulf Coast of Mexico, so it was enjoyable. We took the dog along to get her out as well and walked along the pier.