It didn’t take me long to settle in to a pattern of every day life here in lovely warm Zihuatanejo. I swim 3 days a week, I discovered that with all the lovely improvements at the pool they now have a daily fee of 25 pesos and a monthly pass 225 pesos. Obviously the pass is the better deal , so for a month of swimming I pay about the equivalent of $11. At home when I swam at the Navy base it was free, but when I return home I will need to join the Y and pay $60 a month. I walk to the pool usually about 7 ish, takes me about 20 minutes then I lap swim for 30 minutes and walk back.
Now the walk back can take a long time depending on what errands I have, the route takes me by two fabric stores and the Mercado where I can wander and find just about anything I could possibly need from clothing to vegetables to fish to tiny restaurants. I have bought parts for my cook stove there rope for my clothesline, you name it can find it but that sometimes in the problem. Naming it! Not only do you need to know the Spanish word for it but also how to pronounce it correctly. ” Google translate” is my friend.
In the mid afternoon when it is the hottest, I either keep to my apartment or go to the beach where you most always find a breeze and read there. My apartment is equipped with 3 ceiling fans. One in the kitchen, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. To conserve electricity I try to only run the fan in the room I am using and try to remember to shut them all down when I am gone. Between the fans and the fact that a breeze blows in from the bay, just a block away , in my back door and out the balcony slider I am quite comfortable and never use my air conditioner. And therefore keep my electric bill down, which all the Canadians refer to as the “hydro” bill.
Two days a week I take Spanish classes. I am finding it challenging, but important. Usually after class, my friend Fay and I go for coffee, trying many new and different places. I have joined a book club and frequently attend “meet and greet” affairs in the evening.
One day a week I go to the “Laundaria” and for 45 pesos (1.45) I do a load of wash which I bring back to my apartment and hang my clothes to dry on the back porch. They are dry in just 2-3 hours, I let the laundry do my sheets and towels and it usually runs about about the equivalent of $5 a week for them to wash and dry and fold. I don’t have room to hang them.
I take the little “combi” buses just about everywhere I don’t want to walk. 10 pesos ( $.50) gets me any where in Zihuatanejo I want to go. They hold ten to 15 people
comfortably but not uncommon for 20 plus folks to cram inside. Taxi’s are 35 pesos for in town, which I use only for grocery shopping on when purchasing big things like my new little desk. I thought it might double for a sewing desk, but I do prefer my card table for sewing.
Beach days and lunches with friends, keep me busy, also I find that I am a bit of a “sun-
downer” once the sun goes down and the air becomes so soft and cool I love to walk about town. I’ll stop and listen to the music at many of the open air bars, stop for drinks with friends or just wander around. It’s a lovely way to spend an evening.
I have a TV, but I swear it is cursed. I can’t operate it. It is only a year old and is supposed to be a smart TV, I can only find NBC in English and I know there are many other English speaking channels, but I am remote control challenged and can’t even find Netflix. So when I want a movies I do Netflix on my computer. Signing off KO
