Raquel's thoughts for the day: We've been here one week. The language barrier is the biggest challenge here. Living in a city of 50,000 people, coming to a city with only 12,000 people, I was thinking it was going to be small town living. Obviously, I was mistaken. Everywhere we go there are people, Tuk tuks, motos, bikes, pedestrians. Someone told me that there is no personal space in this type of culture. They were right. I'm not complaining just expressing what we are adjusting to. Today we explored the open food market, it was very crowded. I was pretty overwelmed, we ran into a sister who gave us some tips on what to buy and for how much. Rob bought some cut up watermelon he and the kids ate. Intestinal whoas followed for Rob and Josh. Lydia was perfectly fine, maybe her immune system will adjust better then ours. I also had a bout of whoas and the western grocery store we were at had no toilet paper. I had one kleenex. I was warned ahead of time this may happen. At least I got a bottle of wine afterwards😂
We arranged through our landlord to have a house cleaner come today. Her name was Silvia and what Spanish I knew I found out she had dos bebé one taller than her and one half her size. The landlord fixed a few issues (Josh had cold showers) and he went out and bought us a new hammock and hammock chair and fixed a chair that broke. We were able to ask him a few questions about schools and buying or renting a house here. He told us where to go so we can show Lydia and Josh monkeys😀 and maybe I'll be brave enough and do ziplining (Sherry where are you!?!?)
I'm glad we're taking a few days off just to figure Pana out. Friday is our next service adventure. Boat ride to a town across the lake and do more canvassing.
I have been invited next Thursday to go with the sisters on a shopping day. Looking forward to hearing her barter with the vendors.
Adios for now
Cuidado...market food that's cut up often is not cleaned properly before cutting..it will get you sick, in Mexico I got the travelers sickness and it was the worst ever, and dealt with parasites at home 2years later..not fun..but sounds like you are making progress, just remember "baby steps"..you have already made lots of progress even though you might not feel like it, conversation with the cleaning lady..that is progress, to make the market easier bring a note pad and have them write the prices, much easier to visualize those big numbers than to try and understand what they are saying.., you never can go anywhere with to much toilet paper..at least you have baby wipes..
ReplyDeleteYour place looks very cute and service like an adventure. What are the daytime temperatures? I wonder how long I would survive. What do rentals run?
ReplyDelete70's daytime, maybe low 80's up in Sololà. 60's at night. Sun makes a big difference when out. There is often a haze and cloud cover, but little rain so far.
DeleteRentals are reportedly from $250 to $600 per month or more depending on quality and size. Many jump around as they find better for cheaper.
Hotel rooms can be had for around $40 per night. The home we are in is $1500 per month, too much for permanent but acceptable for this stay.
Rob