When Paradise Gets Wet, Really Wet

A week of grumpy weather

We fooled around with various ideas for a title for this week’s blog.  

Titles like – some days you should just stay in bed, or a little adversity can pull a community together, or when it rains it pours!  

You get the idea.  It’s been a grumpy wet week that has created a few problems for the island community.

 Collapsed wall - TV Isla Mujeres photo

The first problem was an eight-foot tall retaining wall that collapsed from the weight of water in the soil.  Twelve inches of rain in twenty-four hours.  It seems like we are back on the Wet Coast of BC – living in Vancouver, or the American equivalent of Seattle Washington.  

Murals painted in April 2015 - L Lock photo

The wall supported the popular volleyball and exercise area for seniors, located along the double road that runs from the east to the west side of the island, past the newer cemetery and the big church.  This spring local artists were invited to decorate the wall with murals of local creatures such as iguanas, hermit crabs, and turtles.  It was one of my favourite murals, not part of last year’s big Panga Seed fourteen murals painted in one month blitz, but still a well-planned and beautifully painted wall. 

Police cleaning up - TV Isla Mujeres photo

Interestingly enough in Mexico the local police are called out to help clean up disasters such as this.  We have also seen the police painting crosswalks and speed bumps with the bright yellow warning colour, and re-installing broken or missing stop or speed limit signs.  In Canada those jobs are handled by the city maintenance workers, or the provincial highway department employees.  Just another small difference we have noticed between the Canadian or American and Mexican cultures. 

Hidalgo Ave under water, Giovanna Flores photo

As the rain continued unabated a notice was posted on various community Facebook pages asking any able-bodied people to help neighbours in areas that are flooding.  Most of Isla Mujeres is barely above sea-level while the southern end is maybe fifty feet above sea-level.  That creates two problems.  One: water runs downhill, adding more depth to the already saturated areas in the lower parts of the island.  And two: the island is a sandbar in the beautiful turquoise Caribbean Sea.  The tides are currently quite high, and the ocean water combined with the excess rain is creating havoc.  The street corner across from Jax Bar & Grill had an accumulation of six inches of water, as did most of Hidalgo Avenue in Centro. We saw the new fire truck and crew busy pumping out the streets, moving the water into the ocean.  The water eventually seeps back into town: pump, dump and repeat.  But hey, it’s warm water, not icy cold snow-melt.

 

Lawrie with the hard working Isla Animals gang

Also posted on Facebook was a plea from Isla Animals looking for temporary foster parents for several of their stray dogs.  The lake at the Hacienda Mundaca Park was overflowing, saturating the area around the Isla Animals Clinic, soaking in through the walls and floors.  The free spay and neuter clinics were cancelled for the next few days until the weather changed.  Eileen and Doug Regn and a crew of helpful volunteers were moping the floors and moving the animal cages around when we popped by a couple of nights ago.  They are such a hard working group of people.  

 

Crocodile prefers pond across from Isla Animals 

The resident crocodile that has been moved by City workers - several times - from the pond across from the Isla Animals Clinic to the lake at Hacienda Mundaca – has returned to the pond, again.  She likes it there!  

One local humorist suggested it was the availability of a better food source that prompts her to make the trek on a regular basis. 

CFE changing weak power pole on our street

Closer to home we have had an interesting week, exacerbated by the rain and higher humidity.  Our third GE Profile side-by-side refrigerator died during the night.  Then our new hot water heater decided to take a day or two off from work, thinking that Lawrie and I would appreciate cooler morning showers.  Our recently purchased 2005 Mini Cooper also wanted a short vacation.  The engine electronics didn’t like the excessive rain.  

Wet Policeman - while CFE changes power pole 

We decided to take the Mini Cooper back to the dealer in Cancun where we purchased the car and get a diagnostic test run.  The weather wasn’t too bad, it looked like things were improving.  Just as the car ferry was docking in Punta Sam a nasty windstorm blew in with pelting rain and high winds, temporarily grounding the boat in the sandy harbour.  As the Captain applied full throttle to free the vessel a freak wind-squall slammed the boat’s bow into the concrete docks.  It was darn exciting for a few minutes with lots of nervous laughter from the on-board truck drivers and ferry crew.  There was some damage to the boat and dock but no injuries that we know of. 

Pepe and guys struggling with fridge

Once off the ferry our drive through Cancun got a bit interesting as the rain continued to pelt down, flooding streets to a depth of a foot or more, making the ever-present potholes impossible to see.  

We decided that since we were already in the city to get the car checked we might as well search for a new refrigerator.  Starting at Telebodega, then Liverpool, Chapur, and Sears we finally settled for a floor model at Costco.  

All the other stores said eight to fourteen days, more or less, before our purchase would arrive from Mexico City. 

Taking the old fridge out past neighbours' house

Islander José (Pepe) Martinez arranged a truck and two strong guys to take our new refrigerator from Costco to our house.  His quote was considerably cheaper than the Cancun-based fletes y mudanzas (cartage companies).  

As the rain continued to pelt down four guys wrestled the thirty-three inch wide beast into our house through an almost-too-narrow front door.  Lawrie had already removed the door and part of the frame but it was still a very tight squeak to get it inside the house.  The non-working appliance, thirty-six inches wide, was man-handled outside, and over a neighbours’ propane tank and onto the street.   Note to new island home owners: check the size of your main entrance before you purchase a large side-by-side refrigerator.  It’s a small but frustrating detail we overlooked eight years ago when we had the house built.

 

The return of sunny weather

As for the weather, eventually this persistent storm got bored with bothering us.  

It slowly dissipated allowing the warm Caribbean sun dry out our soggy little island. 

Warm breezes, sunshine. It's all good.  We live in paradise.

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

We hope you enjoyed this post.  If you did please feel free to share it with your friends and family. 

Is Living in Paradise 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 regards to the cost of living in Mexico.  All that we had heard was that electricity was very expensive.

Okay, 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, 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 dollars a year, electricity averages around $75.00 dollars 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 dollars 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 dollars. The VIP has waiters who will bring you food and drinks, even sushi to your individual Lazyboy 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 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

Lawrie and Lynda

Today was Lawrie's turn to write!

You can find us on the web at:

Humerous stories about critters we have known:

http://animalsandfamilymembers.blogspot.mx/

AND

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Adventures-of-Thomas-the-Cat-Las-Aventuras-de-Tomás-el-Gato

On Mexican time

What time will you be here?  It is an innocent question.  The answer controls the rhythm of our days.  

Internet disconnected on Friday July 5th

The answers always sound sincere:  twenty minutes, or give me five minutes and I’ll be there.  Or mañana, I will be there early tomorrow morning.  We wait for friends to arrive.  We wait for electricians, and repairmen.  We are naively convinced that the person will arrive at the time he or she said.  

Eventually we realized that the word mañana doesn’t always mean tomorrow.  It can mean, soon, or later, or tomorrow depending on the situation and the person.  On the other hand mañana, mañana, loosely translates to tomorrow in the morning, can be a polite way of saying – it’s not going to happen, ever!

This week we have been without internet for a few days, just our house and our neighbours’ house. The electrical utility company CFE changed out a power pole last week.  On Friday the internet provider, Cablemas, instructed the workers to move the internet lines over to the new pole.  The cable was disconnected and dropped on the ground.  Around lunch-time on Friday the CFE bucket truck and linesmen left.  The electricity was functioning, but not the internet.

One of our many long periods of waiting for a parade

Our neighbours depend on the internet for their on-line work; we use it for telephone, emails, news, and amusement.  They have phoned Cablemas every day asking: when will the repairs happen?  Lawrie and I visited the Cablemas office a few times, asking: when?  

The polite smiling answer varied: Sunday morning, later on Monday, or Tuesday afternoon, or Wednesday morning.  This is day six!  And still no sign of the repair crew.  Maybe we should pay our Cablemas bill on Mexican time – mañana, mañana.

Family and friends waiting on a parade

Another frequent question is: What time does it start?  Now there’s a loaded question.  As well-trained polite Canadians we arrive at the scheduled start time.  If an invitation says it starts at seven in the evening, we are there at seven in the evening.  If the parade is scheduled to start at three-thirty in the afternoon, we are there with expectant smiles on our faces, cameras ready and waiting.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  We have lingered on a sidewalk, or relaxed in our air conditioned car for up to three hours before the anticipated parade finally gets underway.  Fortunately a supply of cold beer is always at hand to pass the time more pleasantly. 

Eight months - and finally a renewal for immigrant visa

But our most frustrating example of Mexican-time happened with the annual renewal of my FM3 visa, allowing me to remain in Mexico year-around.  The renewal date was October 31^st 2012.  

Our lawyer friend, Tony Poot, handles the renewal for us every year.  It’s just easier that way; except this time.  Mexico City made a mistake on the FM3, registering me as a working resident.  

To rectify the mistake took an excruciating eight months, with our lawyer visiting the Cancun Immigration office every two weeks, hearing the same excuses.  Come back next week.  Come back next Monday.  Next Friday.  We are too busy.  We have a lot of applications to process.  And on and on.  Finally on June 26^th the visa was processed with a renewal date of - you guessed it, October 31^st 2013.   The immigration laws have recently changed and the next visa is a Permanent Resident’s card good for up to ten years.    Sign me up!

Wednesday July 10th - internet!

As a follow up to our internet problem, we once again stopped by the Cablemas office at mid-day on Wednesday.  Lawrie popped in to chat to Delores, who handles payments, repairs, and complaints.  When will the internet be fixed?  He asked.   She was embarrassed.  She didn’t know it still hadn’t been repaired.  Ten minutes.  She promised.  And it was! 

Living on Mexican time, is frustrating, and it is fun.  Frustrating when we need service but the person or the company is on Mexican time.  Fun when we don’t really care because we are retired, and living in paradise. 

Hasta Luego          
Lynda and Lawrie