Well, the day finally arrived, and the move is done, and my legs, thighs to be exact, are sorer than on any of the hikes or walks I've taken in recent times. In fact, those hikes were not sore-leg inducing events, but today's move with so many climbs up and down the stairs to get things out and ditto at new place bringing stuff in....well, there you have it.
I am no longer in the Centro, the center touristic part of the city (even if I was in the outer stretches of it), and I am now within walking distance of the mountains. It feels good to have a more permanent spot to stay in. The Calle Colon apartment was always temporary and only until mid October, so that fact was always in the back of my mind, and weighing it down a bit in the process. But now I have a place and can relax. Now, mind you, I am not planning to stay here in this apartment or town forever. That was not part of the plan, unless I ended up feeling that Oaxaca was the be all and end all of places to live, which it has yet to do. It is a bit too humid for my taste, and the food, well, although it is a culinary capital of Mexico, it just doesn't taste as good to me as food further north, especially when you get up Zacatecas way. But I will definitely hang around a good while, definitely until it is time for my visa renewal in May 2019. By then I'll know what I think of here or of somewhere else.
Anyway, getting back to the story, I was all packed last night, and yet, somehow, when I woke up this morning it seemed like there was still a ton to do. Fortunately, Ezquiel, the owner at the Calle Colon apartment helped carry a lot down, as did the cleaning lady, who I had thought was Ezquiel's mother for the whole time I was living there, only to find out that she is not. She just happens to live in one of his sister's apartments. Oh well. Anyway, nice of her. After I said my farewells, I went to get Rulla, and wouldn't you know it, she had decided to hide under the bed, and when I got her out from under there, she ran under the wardrobe, where I had to get down on the floor and pull her out. She is a funny girl.
I then took her downstairs to wait along with me and all the other stuff for our 10:30 ride to the new place. House dog, Dino was sitting midway in usual position, though much more aware that something was up. After putting Rulla down on the pile of things to go, I walked back to give Dino a final facial massage. Then Rulla meowed, and Dino's face and ears and, it would seem, every molecule in his body perked up, and he ran off to see what this unfamiliar meow was all about. He seemed quite excited, while Rulla....seemed to care less. Cats always keep their cool (except around other cats).
When Armando (Armando is, btw, the fellow who handles the property for the owner, who live in Cuernavaca) arrived with his wife to take us to the new place, the part of the move that I had imagined would be the easiest - taking things from inside the front gate to the outside, proved to be a bit difficult. This is for two reasons. One was that to open the gate you has to push the big green open button with your right hand while pulling the gate with your left. Of course, this meant you could not do it with your hands full, and normally that would have proven no problem. This time, however, Dino, now knowing that I was leaving, tried to go out every time the gate opened, which he had never done before, and so the simple portion of the move was a bit tougher than planned, but the mission was ultimately accomplished. After loading up the car, I went back in one more time to pet good ol' Dino a bit more before leaving.
Well, the move into the new place went smoothly, so no need to discuss that. Armando and his wife both helped me carry stuff up to my new place, and so the whole thing was over in a very short time. Once then had left, I got down to job one: building Rulla's cat tree/tower. Fortunately, she did seem interested in it, though up this point mostly for scratching and looking out the window purposes, which is fine enough.
The only unpacking I then did was of the trinkets/keepsakes, my Native American flutes, and books, which I all put into good order on the shelves. The rest of the unpacking business was now put on hold because I was very hungry and needed to go get something to eat. Priorities, priorities! That would also allow me to get a pedestrian's view of the neighborhood, since I had only really seen any of it from car or bus windows. The first thing I realized once out the door and heading to the street was that the driveway was very steep. Walking up that every day will make me a very healthy man.
What is interesting about the top of that driveway is that it is the dividing point between paved and unpaved road - paved to the left, and dirt/gravel to the right as the road heads closer to the mountains.
The road towards the village (church area) feels a bit more occupied than the mountain-bound direction, with houses (some looking rather expensive) lining the way, and more or more shops and restaurants dotting the route as you get closer to the church and then beyond it towards the heart of the city. The bus in the photo below, btw, goes to within 3 blocks of the apartment I just moved out of.
There isn't all that much to see in the village, but it is the center of the area. There is the church, a rather cool looking "colectivo" type restaurant, a small, yet well stocked, "mini-supermarket," and then, of all things, an Indian restaurant with an Indian chef from Jaipur, and it is there that I decided to have their daily lunch special, which turned out to be Chicken Masala with chapati.
After lunch, I looked around a bit more and found a rather popular looking comedor serving mostly typical tortilla based treats, and then made my way back home. The way back home, by the way is much more steep than it felt going down. Ahhh. LOL. On the way, I stopped at the closest shop to my apartment, Miscelánea Mary (a miscelánea, by the way, is sort of like a convenience story but older and darker with a more diverse range of products, from soap to beer to soda to eggs and cheese - they even make their own tortillas -and tamales on Sunday mornings, amen) to buy something to eat later (got some cheese and tortillas, peanuts, beer, and Diet Coke). The two women who ran the place were very friendly, asking me my name, and introducing themselves as well. They gave me the rundown on all they sell, and they are open from 7AM to 9:30PM.
And then I made the turn to my apartment, and....well, that is about that. I got down to unpacking, and, miraculously, completely unpacked for the first time in months. Below I add a few photos of the place so that you can see what it looks like. I should note, since I can't upload the video, that the kitchen is actually downstairs, and the kitchen for the downstairs apartment is downstairs from that. An odd arrangement, but it should prove no problem. If it does, well....it will be taken into account when it comes time to decide on whether to stay in Oaxaca and this apartment or not.
Oh, and one other note - this apartment has a tv and cable. It is an old green Hitachi of the pre-flatscreen era, but it works and....it is the first time I've had a TV since leaving NC, with the exception of the two weeks I spent in Condesa, Mexico City.
I am no longer in the Centro, the center touristic part of the city (even if I was in the outer stretches of it), and I am now within walking distance of the mountains. It feels good to have a more permanent spot to stay in. The Calle Colon apartment was always temporary and only until mid October, so that fact was always in the back of my mind, and weighing it down a bit in the process. But now I have a place and can relax. Now, mind you, I am not planning to stay here in this apartment or town forever. That was not part of the plan, unless I ended up feeling that Oaxaca was the be all and end all of places to live, which it has yet to do. It is a bit too humid for my taste, and the food, well, although it is a culinary capital of Mexico, it just doesn't taste as good to me as food further north, especially when you get up Zacatecas way. But I will definitely hang around a good while, definitely until it is time for my visa renewal in May 2019. By then I'll know what I think of here or of somewhere else.
Anyway, getting back to the story, I was all packed last night, and yet, somehow, when I woke up this morning it seemed like there was still a ton to do. Fortunately, Ezquiel, the owner at the Calle Colon apartment helped carry a lot down, as did the cleaning lady, who I had thought was Ezquiel's mother for the whole time I was living there, only to find out that she is not. She just happens to live in one of his sister's apartments. Oh well. Anyway, nice of her. After I said my farewells, I went to get Rulla, and wouldn't you know it, she had decided to hide under the bed, and when I got her out from under there, she ran under the wardrobe, where I had to get down on the floor and pull her out. She is a funny girl.
I then took her downstairs to wait along with me and all the other stuff for our 10:30 ride to the new place. House dog, Dino was sitting midway in usual position, though much more aware that something was up. After putting Rulla down on the pile of things to go, I walked back to give Dino a final facial massage. Then Rulla meowed, and Dino's face and ears and, it would seem, every molecule in his body perked up, and he ran off to see what this unfamiliar meow was all about. He seemed quite excited, while Rulla....seemed to care less. Cats always keep their cool (except around other cats).
When Armando (Armando is, btw, the fellow who handles the property for the owner, who live in Cuernavaca) arrived with his wife to take us to the new place, the part of the move that I had imagined would be the easiest - taking things from inside the front gate to the outside, proved to be a bit difficult. This is for two reasons. One was that to open the gate you has to push the big green open button with your right hand while pulling the gate with your left. Of course, this meant you could not do it with your hands full, and normally that would have proven no problem. This time, however, Dino, now knowing that I was leaving, tried to go out every time the gate opened, which he had never done before, and so the simple portion of the move was a bit tougher than planned, but the mission was ultimately accomplished. After loading up the car, I went back in one more time to pet good ol' Dino a bit more before leaving.
Well, the move into the new place went smoothly, so no need to discuss that. Armando and his wife both helped me carry stuff up to my new place, and so the whole thing was over in a very short time. Once then had left, I got down to job one: building Rulla's cat tree/tower. Fortunately, she did seem interested in it, though up this point mostly for scratching and looking out the window purposes, which is fine enough.
The only unpacking I then did was of the trinkets/keepsakes, my Native American flutes, and books, which I all put into good order on the shelves. The rest of the unpacking business was now put on hold because I was very hungry and needed to go get something to eat. Priorities, priorities! That would also allow me to get a pedestrian's view of the neighborhood, since I had only really seen any of it from car or bus windows. The first thing I realized once out the door and heading to the street was that the driveway was very steep. Walking up that every day will make me a very healthy man.
What is interesting about the top of that driveway is that it is the dividing point between paved and unpaved road - paved to the left, and dirt/gravel to the right as the road heads closer to the mountains.
The road towards the village (church area) feels a bit more occupied than the mountain-bound direction, with houses (some looking rather expensive) lining the way, and more or more shops and restaurants dotting the route as you get closer to the church and then beyond it towards the heart of the city. The bus in the photo below, btw, goes to within 3 blocks of the apartment I just moved out of.
There isn't all that much to see in the village, but it is the center of the area. There is the church, a rather cool looking "colectivo" type restaurant, a small, yet well stocked, "mini-supermarket," and then, of all things, an Indian restaurant with an Indian chef from Jaipur, and it is there that I decided to have their daily lunch special, which turned out to be Chicken Masala with chapati.
After lunch, I looked around a bit more and found a rather popular looking comedor serving mostly typical tortilla based treats, and then made my way back home. The way back home, by the way is much more steep than it felt going down. Ahhh. LOL. On the way, I stopped at the closest shop to my apartment, Miscelánea Mary (a miscelánea, by the way, is sort of like a convenience story but older and darker with a more diverse range of products, from soap to beer to soda to eggs and cheese - they even make their own tortillas -and tamales on Sunday mornings, amen) to buy something to eat later (got some cheese and tortillas, peanuts, beer, and Diet Coke). The two women who ran the place were very friendly, asking me my name, and introducing themselves as well. They gave me the rundown on all they sell, and they are open from 7AM to 9:30PM.
And then I made the turn to my apartment, and....well, that is about that. I got down to unpacking, and, miraculously, completely unpacked for the first time in months. Below I add a few photos of the place so that you can see what it looks like. I should note, since I can't upload the video, that the kitchen is actually downstairs, and the kitchen for the downstairs apartment is downstairs from that. An odd arrangement, but it should prove no problem. If it does, well....it will be taken into account when it comes time to decide on whether to stay in Oaxaca and this apartment or not.
Oh, and one other note - this apartment has a tv and cable. It is an old green Hitachi of the pre-flatscreen era, but it works and....it is the first time I've had a TV since leaving NC, with the exception of the two weeks I spent in Condesa, Mexico City.
Comments
Post a Comment