What's all that Beeping, Whistling and Tweeting?

So what's all that noise coming down the neighborhood street during the day and well into the evening? It's enterprising vendors doing home delivery for small amounts of pesos. From the bread man/pastry guy with his ding, ding bell, to the milk guy with his mooing, to the ice cream man or the furniture person with his stack of chairs and tables to the older couple with the tenor voiced women yelling "Tamales!" They are all there and you can be their customer! When you hear them coming down the street, hustle out to the front of your house and wait for them! You can see many of your neighbors doing the same. Once you are a customer they will make your house a stop or at least a hesitation!

One of my favorites is Harley Francisco, the knife sharpener. Several times a month we can hear his pan whistle in a distance and I hustle and get all my dull scissors, knives and yard clippers ready for him. Now he stops at our house once a month and plays his tune outside until we come to the door. Today was one of those days! And here his is with his pipes!

He's unloaded his tricycle and is getting set up.

He comes to the door, sets up and he's waiting for me to plug him in. 

He has a well used grinder but takes really good care of it.

He inspects all that I have given him and fine tunes the clippers and tightens the screws. 

I had him sharpen two pairs of scissors, 2 kitchen knifes and a pair of clippers. He worked for about 15 minutes, made sure the results satisfied us and waiting patiently for his payment. Total cost? All of 150 pesos.. or about 8 dollars US. Oh yea, since it was well over 95 degrees F, I threw in a ice cold bottle of water!

It's Heating Up!

It's snowing back in the states, but melting here!

I was sitting around sweating today, waiting for the pool to be cleaned (and a friend to arrive). I started thinking about all the ways I learned to 'beat the heat' here since I have moved full time to Merida. Some things I have had from the beginning of my journey, others I have added as I have found other peoples ideas that work! Many of the ideas in our home were implemented by our architect, Roger. 

Our house was built with many ideas that really help with the heat...the front two rooms are original to the house and they have 18 inch thick stone walls and high ceiling. Also they have either high windows or heat escape pipes near the ceilings.

Ceiling fans and bedroom air conditioner units help during the evenings. The public portions of the house are not air conditioned. Thick insulated drapes keep the bedrooms cool during the day as well as keep the hot sun out.

Windows on the east side of the house as well as the north lets the cool morning and evening breezes in.

This winter I added sun shades to the lower terrace because in the afternoon the sun heated up the area almost making it impossible to sit there. During the summer the sun is higher in the sky so it does not heat up the terrace as much. With the new shades and the ceiling fan going it's really a lovely place to spend the afternoon. The shades are adjustable all the way to the floor. The solar panels on the top of the upper terrace helps keep that area cooler also. This was the first time our solar provider has a client request the panels to also be used as a sun shade! Works great!

On the hottest of days we only use our gas grill as to not heat up the kitchen.

Of course what would a tropical oasis be without the pool? We use ours daily except for the cold days of December and January...though our northern visitors find it pleasant!

And finally we have our indoor fountain which cools you down with the sound of water...it vents out of a skylight so no humidity inside!

I'm sure I will find more and different ways to stay out of the heat! When in doubt there is always a trip north....that will make me shiver and crave the warmth that is Merida!

OR we can do as Carlos likes to.....hug a bag of cubes while drinking an ice cold brew! .

Tranquility in Baca

A large Buddha welcomes you!

Friends Lee and Pablo invited us to lunch last week and wanted us to choose where to go since we have the car and they do not. After consulting with them, Carlos and I decided to take them out to Baca about 20 minutes outside of Merida. Carlos and I haven't been in almost a year, Pablo and Lee had never visited.
Baca is a small town that has a revitalized hacienda that houses both an excellent Thai restaurant and a center for healing called Fundación para el Bienestar Natural A.C. Surrounding the restaurant are magnificent water gardens. These also act as a buffer to envelope the hospice area in calming waters as well as a quiet serenity. Visitors are free to wander through the gardens as well as eat in the restaurant, but the hospice area is gated giving the residents solitude to work on their healing. Before we sat down to lunch we spent a good 45 minutes enjoying the gardens.

Lee in the distance

Pablo

Carlos

When we sat down to eat, 3 of us ordered PadThai as our main entre and Carlos ordered a curry. Geen Papaya salad as well as spring rolls rounded out our meals. So good. Good thing we wandered aound the gardens before lunch! Go to La Casa de los Lotus soon for a great lunch and to regain some serenity in the gardens! Check out their facebook page for further information such as directions and opening times.

Seating

Pad Thai