A Canadian writer's life

Friday, March 20, 2015

It took a neighbourhood to make a cake, Isla Mujeres Mexico

Lawrie and I, with the cakes

I've been obsessing. Obsessing about a particular type of cake – Tropical Carrot Cake – stuffed full of plump raisins, chopped nuts, juicy pineapple chunks, and sweet coconut. Oh. So. Good.

Finding all of the ingredients was a bit of a challenge. I posted on my social media asking friends for the Spanish words for baking soda and baking powder so that I could find the items in the store.

The responses flowed in, including where to find them; baking powder is usually shelved with flour and other baking supplies, but baking soda is in the pharmacy section of a store. Weird but true.

Lynda & Patty

Then several friends emailed offering to share their supply of baking soda, or baking powder, and oh, did I need anything else? Raisins! I couldn't find raisins on the island. No worries, Patty had extra raisins and her friend Steve, arriving from Cancun, would find me anything else I needed. Patty and Steve dropped them off at my house along with the baking soda.

Dèanne & Brent

Dèanne said she had an extra unopened baking powder. A short time later, the bell on our front gate announced that her esposo, Brent, had arrived with the promised ingredient.

That's the joy of living on a small island, in a close-knit community, friendly, helpful and caring.

Checking my list of ingredients, I realized I was still missing one item – liquid Coconut Cream for the icing. Rats! I started walking to the big grocery store about fifteen minutes southwest our our house, passing neighbourhood friends. “Hola Lynda” (pronounced Leenda), they greeted me as I walked past. “¿Cómo estás?” In the grocery store, I met up with Chuck, who offered me a ride home. I love this island.

Marcy & Chuck's kitchen - baking the cakes

On to the next step. Sifting, measuring, mixing the ingredients into the batter, and it's finally ready for the oven – but wait, we don't have an oven. We seldom bake, and having a hot appliance in my tropically warm kitchen just seemed so unnecessary. After a quick walk up the street to Marcy and Chuck's house, carrying a big bowl of cake batter, pans, and assorted utensils, I popped the cake pans into their oven.

An aromatic thirty minutes later, and it was time, time to retrieve the pans, and pop in three more – because, of course, we needed two cakes, not just one. While I waited for the oven to do its magic, we relaxed on the deck, watching the multi-coloured Parrot Fish surf in the waves and the awkwardly graceful Pelicans gliding overhead. Living here is very different than our Canadian lives: wonderfully different.

Sombra, in Chuck & Marcy's golf cart

Eventually, all the batter was cooked, and Chuck gave me a ride in the golf cart back to our house. It was much easier than walking with two cakes, two bowls, and other assorted oddments.

I smiled as we drove past Patricio's construction crew, working on a new house on our street. Several of the guys caught the scent of the freshly baked cakes, their noses twitching like Sparky, our little terrier-cross dog, wondering where and what that great smell was. Sorry, guys, not this time. I'll bake you something soon.

Later in the afternoon, the cakes had cooled, I slathered on the icing made of cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and the coconut cream.

This is a cake that took a neighbourhood to create, and it was shared with the neighbourhood. Friends and family, nieces and nephews, old friends, and new friends – it was the best cake ever!

Que tengan lindo día

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas the Cat

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Friday, March 13, 2015

Is living on Isla Mujeres, Mexico expensive?

Morning in paradise

As expats who moved to Isla Mujeres a few years ago, we were definitely not prepared or well-informed on what to expect with regard to the cost of living in Mexico. All that we had heard was that electricity was very expensive.

We could deal with that by building our home using energy-efficient methods, but we really needed a few comforts such as air conditioning, an ice-maker, and a wine fridge. You get the idea.

We budgeted our money and figured out approximately how much longer we were going to be around, then tried to live well and die broke! (Sorry, kids.)

Typical monthly water bill, in pesos

A few of our anticipated expenses fooled us: the cost of our property taxes is $66.00 a year, electricity averages around $75.00 a month, water and sewer about $9.00 per month, wine and beer …. let's just say a whole lot less than Canada.

We have also discovered the Mexican seniors' card, available to residents over the age of sixty. There are discounts galore for movies, museums, parks, buses, and some air travel. Heck, even the passenger fares on the ferries are half price. Health care is also available, and the cost per year is an affordable $400.00 for the most expensive category: very old.

2012 delivery of a new refrigerator

On the other hand, the ongoing maintenance of our home is more expensive.

It's best if you are a little handy and can do the small repairs yourself. Everything metal or electronic takes a beating from the salt in the air.

As you may know from previous blog posts, we have had to purchase, in the last seven years, three refrigerators, two dishwashers, and countless microwaves.

It's the cost of living on the Caribbean coast.

Neighbourhood day at the movies VIP Cancun

For entertainment besides frequenting our favourite bar, the Soggy Peso, we can go to Cancun to see first-run movies (in English) at the VIP theatre for about $8.00. The VIP has waiters who will bring you food and drinks, even sushi, to your individual La-Z-Boy recliner. It's a great way to feel totally spoiled.

So after living here for a bit, our budgeting went out the window. We have decided we can live to a ripe old age, have lots of fun, and maybe, just maybe, have some left over at the end.

Sunset - March 2015

The bonus is that we live in a very healthy environment. Our stress is way down. The food is fresh and tasty. And best of all, the humidity seems to make wrinkles disappear.

Yup, it's working for us. Great country, great people, great fun.

Que tengan lindo día

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas (Today was Lawrie's turn to write!)

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Architectural wonder - Villa del la Vida

Friday, March 6, 2015

Isla Mujeres, quirky, haphazard, and delightful

Interesting old building in Centro

I have an accumulation of thousands of photographs taken over the past few years, photographs that we like to include in this blog, to write about, to explain.

When stumped for an idea, I will sit and peruse the files, clicking and scrolling, mentally sorting out the where, when and why of the photos. Usually, an idea for the weekly blog post will pop into my head after a few minutes of contemplation. This time, Lawrie was casually looking over my shoulder and suggested a focus for the article just as the idea was formulating in my head! Damn! He's reading my mind again.

Fruits and veggies - near our house

We were both thinking about the contrasts on the island: the big and the small, the expensive and the economical, the grandiose and the modest.

Contrasts such as the unlit, narrow aisle leading into a quaint little neighbourhood tienda, a small local store providing fresh vegetables and a few assorted dry goods to customers within a few block radius.

Chedraui Super Store

Contrast that with the large, bright Super X-Press, or Chedraui Super Stores, offering new motorcycles, alcohol, baked goods, vegetables, meats, dairy products, or pharmaceuticals.

Everything from refrigerators to toothpicks.

Expensive plaything

Then my eyes flicked over a series of photographs featuring sport fishing boats, yachts and cruisers ranging upwards to over a hundred feet in length.

Grandiose indeed!

Five fishermen headed out at sundown

Contrast those luxury playthings with the average twenty-six-foot-long open-topped work boats, loaded with fishermen, nets, hooks, and bait, heading out at sundown in hopes of catching fish to sell to local restaurants.

Modest and cozy

Or housing. On Isla, there are many humble little old-style houses made from wooden stakes or concrete blocks protected by roofs made of corrugated cardboard, impregnated with waterproof tar.

These tiny homes are just wide enough to comfortably hang a hammock at night.

Colourful and charming!

In the colonias, the thickly populated neighbourhoods, a myriad of modest, brightly painted abodes lend a colourful, haphazard appearance to narrow streets.

Cozy and charming, these houses vary in shape and size with sufficient room for a family and pets to congregate for meals.

And then there are the splendorous shapes with commanding views of the turquoise ocean - the architectural wonders of shiny glass, glittering metal, and dazzling white walls.

Contrasts; everywhere you look. It is part of the charm of Isla Mujeres, quirky, haphazard, and delightful.

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas the Cat