In Morelia

I arrived on time in Morelia yesterday afternoon and took a taxi to Hotel and Suites Galería at Miguel Silva 71. My apartment wasn't ready, so rather than make me wait two hours until the 3:00 PM check in, and because I'm staying so long, they upgraded me to a two bedroom apartment. I'm on the third floor (no elevator, but walking Tumamoc Hill got me in shape for stair climbing) at the back of the hotel, and it's a basic, clean apartment. Comfortable king size bed, living room, kitchen. The extra bedroom has two twins beds that will enable Steve and me to distribute our excessive stuff all over the place when he gets here two weeks from now. All this for $46 per night including the 18% tax, but that's the price for the one bedroom I booked through Booking.com. If I walked in off the street to rent this, it would be about $145 per night.

The first thing I did was go to the farmer's market, Mercado San Juan, about five blocks from my hotel. I quickly realized that I would not be able to eat any of the produce I bought unless I soaked it in microdyn. Of course, no one at San Juan knew what I was talking about when I asked where I could buy microdyn. In general, no one here knows what I am talking about no matter what I am saying, but soaking produce in anti-bacterial solution is probably outside their realm of experience anyway.

So I took my few purchases home and went in search of microdyn. After three tries, I found it in a pharmacy for under a dollar for a tiny bottle that might cost three times as much in Tucson. 

Then I decided to go look for the vegetarian buffet Steve and I found two years ago, unfortunately on our second to last day here, but we ate there three times and loved it. A generous, delicious, healthy meal for about $4. Sadly, our favorite restaurant in Morelia is now much more upscale, so I tried a new place, Loto, which is very sweet and I got a tiny vegetarian meal of tofu, nopalitos, refried beans, guacamole, salsa and tortillas for about $3. A little old lady came into the restaurant carrying a wicker basket and tried to sell me some home made baked goods. She wouldn't take "No gracias" for an answer and proceeded to tell me everything she had to sell. When I told her "No como dulce", which I thought meant "I don't eat sweets". She was baffled, but she realized I was hopeless. Then I realized I that I had actually said to her, "Not as sweet". I should have said "No como dulces". 

However, after spending so little and eating so little, I decided to go to the fancy place that replaced our favorite vegetarian buffet. I bought a strawberry crepe, which was strange because I have been managing to stay away from white flour and sugar lately. That was about $2.50 and 12 oz of bottled water was $2. At the vegetarian restaurant, they gave me all the filtered water I wanted for free. Loto my new favorite place to eat in Morelia

La Catedral

The kitchen has dishes, glasses, cups, flatware and three shady looking pots with no lids. No frying pad, dish soap, sponge, towels, dish drainer. No hot water in the sink. So how clean could all that stuff be? Even when we are in the US, Steve and I always wash all the dishes etc in a rented apartment before using them. I have seen seemingly civilized clients take a drinking glass out of the dish drainer in a house I am showing them, get themselves a drink, and put the glass back in the dish drainer. So you never know.

Next stop was Woolworth (yes, Woolworth is alive and well in México) where I bought dish soap, six sponges, a frying pan and a dish drainer for $12.

By this time, the sun had gone down and the sidewalks were crowded with people who seemed to anticipate a parade in the grand boulevard, which was by this time closed to traffic. I walked down the middle of the boulevard along with all the other people who weren't trying to hold a good viewing spot. Finally two very noisy motorcycles blew up the street at about 60 MPH. That effectively cleared the boulevard of pedestrians, and the zombie parade began. First there were low rider, tricked out cars with zombies hanging out the windows, sprawled on the hood, or shrieking from inside. Then thousands of bloodied, mangled living dead stumbled toward the cathedral, where there was a light show and fireworks. 

I have rearranged the apartment to my liking. Last night after I got home, the maintenance guy replaced the light bulb and switch on the one lamp in the apartment, and I rolled the table from the crowded kitchen to the living room, which is the only place with an outlet to plug in the lamp. So now I have a decently illuminated place to read, write and eat. 

Morelia is beautiful, as it has been for centuries. I am attaching a few photos of my apartment for the benefit of my sister Beverly, who is no doubt concerned that I'm staying in a dump. I'm not. It even has a blender, so I can make my smoothies. All is well. 

The apartment is fairly quiet, by México standards. There are the usual car alarms that seem to call to no one who can do anything about them. Tourists (but not Mexicans) talking unnecessarily loudly. But these are momentary inconveniences. Fortunately, no roosters or dogs, and the ubiquitous church bells aren't close enough to keep me awake. 

In the other places we've stayed in México, filtered water was provided, but not here. I bought six liters for $1.25. All this wasted plastic is tragic. Steve tells me not to brush my teeth with the water, but I always do. My strategy is to inoculate myself with a small dose of the nasty water. So far, it was worked except for in Belize, and it may have been something else that made me sick there. 

This morning I cleaned the pots, dishes, etc and sanitized my produce, and I'm ready to go find the rest of what I need to make this a comfortable home for the next 17 days. 

I miss Steve, who called yesterday afternoon. This is the first time I have gone to a foreign country by myself. I first thought of studying Spanish abroad when we were in Costa Rica around 2004, so this is a dream come true.