In order to live happily  in Mexico, I believe you need to be flexible.

• Can’t find sage when you want to make Thanksgiving stuffing?  Buy Hierbas Finas and make do.
• Can’t find lemons?  Use lime, or orange, or grapefruit, and discover how good and different it is.
• Can’t find peanut butter that you like?  Grind your own or use Nutella.
• Can’t find clothing that suits your figure?  Have a seamstress clone something you own and love.
• Can’t find something – a birdcage – chia seed – heavy weight oilcloth – skip the phone book and just ask a (non-busy) vendor at the mercado.

Here’s an example of my latest adjustment.  I wanted to knit a dress for my granddaughter using some chunky yarn that her mother had bought for me to use.  I had a dress pattern that called for a gauge of 8 stitches and 12 rounds over 4″ using size 17 circular needles. I have size 15 circular needles, nothing larger. My gauge with the size 15 needles was 12 stitches and 15 rounds over 4″.  If I followed the pattern as written the dress would end up much smaller than desired.   No larger needles could be found in town.  I have size 17 straight needles but that would mean reworking the whole pattern to be knitted in pieces.  So I decided to knit the dress in a larger size, which will increase the number of stitches and should make up for the smaller needles.  Does that make sense?

Anyhow, this is not an ideal way to deal with the situation but other than searching for a different pattern,  I think it should work out.  When I used to live in the US I would run out on my lunch hour and buy the needles I needed without even a thought. Here, there is a lot of preparation and adjustment usually needed when doing any project.

One thing I should mention, though. In the picture above you’ll see the most recent issue of Interweave Knits, which I subscribe to and is delivered dependably to my door by the postman.  Now, if I could only figure out some work-arounds for some of the yarns and needles called for in its patterns!

- For any Mexico knitters reading this, I have just set up a group at Ravelry that I am hoping can help us share resources and help each other!  The link is in the left menu bar below the blogroll.

I am back from a long weekend with my son and his family in Mexico City.  Of course it was wonderful to see them.

I arrived Friday morning and spent the morning drinking coffee and playing with Consuelo along with my daughter in law Martha and her mother.  I hadn’t seen her mother in about five years or so – I think the last time we saw her we visited her in Colima while we were exploring places to live in Mexico.  Back then we could barely communicate so I was pleased to be able to communicate well enough in Spanish this time that we were able to catch up a bit.  When Adam got home from work (he was taking a half day off) we headed out for comida at Origenes Organicos, a restaurant and market. Be still, my heart!  It was delicious.

We had driven the car to the restaurant, and (surprise, surprise) there were no parking spaces nearby.  So what do you do? Adam spoke to the guy a couple doors down and he basically drove the car around for a while until a space opened up.  Not very eco friendly I guess – we kept laughing “there he goes again!”

Martha’s mother headed out to Leon in the early evening.  I was pretty pleased with myself since we had spoken Spanish with only little breaks the entire day.  We had delicious Italian food and stayed up really late.  Or should I say early?

Saturday we had some great fun.  We had breakfast out (chilaquiles for me) and some strolling in the sunshine because the realtor needed to show their condo.  It is for sale because they are buying a turn of the (last) century home in Colonia Roma.  I got a tour and it is going to be fabulous when it’s done.  It isn’t in too bad of shape, but there are a few wonky additions in the back that need to be straightened out as well as new plumbing, electrical, and decorating.  If any DF readers are interested in their lovely 2 bedroom Condesa condo with a 500 square foot deck and parking, comment or send me an email and I will hook you up!

That afternoon I attended my first ever kid party in Mexico.  It was held in the party room on the top floor of a condominium in Condesa.  There was a giant sized bouncy room at one end, and ladies making hamburgers and quesadillas at the other.  I don’t know how many people were there, probably 50 or 75.  A couple people were there who work for my son, and they spoke English, but everyone else spoke only Spanish so I got a workout again.  About two hours into the party a troupe arrived and did a Sesame Street show.  It was a pretty amazing party for a one year old!

Consuelo was pretty tired after all the activity (and so were we) so that evening we ordered tacos delivered and played dominoes all evening.  Can you believe I didn’t win even once?  What is wrong with me?

Sunday we had a lazy morning and then headed out to the Dolores Olmedo Museum in Colonia La Noria near Xochimilco. Dolores donated the property and her entire collection of pre-hispanic art, as well as 145 Diego Riveras and 25 Frida Kahlos. The property is breathtaking and the museum was fantastic. There is also a wonderful Day of the Dead  exhibit. If you are down that way, perhaps include the museum along with a visit to Xochimilco. It was fantastic.

We headed home, ditching my idea of stopping for some gourmet groceries for me to bring home because the Sunday traffic was too heavy… and I didn’t want to miss my plane home. Bummer… I really had the jones for some gorgonzola cheese, kalamata olives, and perhaps some vegie burgers or something.  Next time I will go on the first day of my visit!

It was a wonderful trip.  Paul and I are planning on spending a month or six weeks in the DF environs during the summer this year when Mazatlán is hotter than blazes.  There are so many places to explore within an hour of the city.  And of course the prospect of being close to family would be fun, too!

Check out my photos from the trip, below.

Mexico City Nov 2009

Nancy's long weekend in DF Click "View with PicLens" to browse through the photos.

20 Photos

 

Mazatlán is a multi-faceted town.  We have a huge shrimp fleet.  We are the home of Pacifico Beer, Café Marino and Coppel. But tourism is a large part of what sustains the town, and part of those tourists are visitors from cruise ships that visit the port.

Usually on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday there are cruise ships in town.  This month there are 24 cruise ships expected.  That’s great, because for every cruise ship of 3,500 passengers, approximately 80% leave the ship to explore the city.  Of those who visit, the average spent for the day is $80 USD.  That adds up!

The cruise ships arrive in the early morning and people debark around 8 or 8:30.  There are swarms of taxis and pulmonias at the terminal, offering basic transportation or full city tours.  The taxis are the only vehicles allowed into the terminal because the cruise lines have deemed pulmonias unsafe since they don’t have seatbelts for the passengers.  But most people wanting a taste of Mazatlán should try one if only to experience having your hair blown in the wind while driving along the malecon.  It is great!

Today I ran up to the mall on an errand and took the pictures that accompany this post on my way home.  You can see the cruise ships from a long ways away. The picture at the top I’ve marked with a few of the local landmarks.  The middle one is a closeup of the cruise ships on the other side of downtown, and the one below is a two-fer.  Two pulmonias filled with happy cruisers heading back to the ship after a day of fun!