The Inside Scoop.

Several people who have read this blog and then come to visit, have said that it is more than they imagined. Perhaps they are being polite and complimentary, but I have a hard time finding angles to photograph that represent the whole thing.
Here are three pics to represent some of our palapa interior.
The lounge and kitchen still need lighting and cabinets.
The baño is a composite photo to show the wide view.
The loft shows our guest quarters for the moment.

Colours... For followers of this blog, you may remember some of our tribulations about choosing colours of tiles and grout. The same happened for our paint colours. We had a few ideas, a bunch of paint chips and still, it wasn’t until we tried our fifth colour that we settled on this interior colour. Amarillo Neapolitano is the boldest of the lot and when we add some wall hangings it will be done for now. Good thing about paint - you can always change your mind.

A palapa is an odd kind of thing. Essentially it is a grass shelter (a big grass shelter - ours covers about 1000 sq. feet, plus loft and balcony.)
It is partly a spiffy tropical home with tile floor and counters, full kitchen and bath, living and dining areas, storage room, laundry, sleeping loft and balcony. It seems out of place to me that someone parked a trailer in our house! So maybe, it is really just a partly walled covered parking garage. Most of the palapa owners here have integrated their trailers as part of the permanent fixtures, and many have taken steps to blend them into the over-all appearance, with paint, wood or stucco coverings. As we are full-time rv’ers and will be taking our trailer with us when we leave, it is just a trailer parked in a grass palapa for the winter.
And certainly much more than just a trailer.

Hurry HARD!!!

“You can’t take the country out of the boy” the saying goes. Even here on the Caribbean sea.
I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan. Winter evenings were spent either at Stotski’s pool hall or more usually at the village social center, our little curling rink. Almost all students from grade 7 to 12 were involved in curling, and then in our senior school years, we were drafted to teams for the two big bonspiels, the farmer’s and the town- spiels.
In grade 12 I was chosen to play for our Buchanan High School team along with Russell Shukin, Alex Kozlow, and Jimmy Shushetski. As I remember, we did okay in the regionals in Yorkton that year, but did not advance to the Provincials.

I have only played a few games in the many intervening years, but I have maintained my belief that curling is one of the most skillful, strategic and exciting games of all. So once again this year, I followed first the Scotties, the Canadian Women’s Curling Championship and, just finishing tonight, the Tim Horton’s Briar Canadian Men’s Curling Championship. Many of the games went down to the classic last rock. In the semifinal, Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton made a double raise and stick with his last rock to defeat Ontario's Glenn Howard. Wow! Tonight's final was an easy win for Alberta’s Kevin Martin’s team which set a record of two straight years without a loss in the round robins and the play-offs.
Back in my day, the Saskatchewan team of the Ernie Richardson, a farmer, along with his farming brother and two cousins dominated Canadian and world curling. To this day, Ernie’s is the only team to win four world titles. We all tried to emulate their flamboyant (for its time) style, chin tucked broom sliding, and noisy wapp-wapping of the narrow corn brooms.
Nowadays, the big-name teams are playing almost year-round, with mind-boggling precision, and those funny little brushes. If you have the time and patience to learn to play, or to follow the curling game, it will impress you with the chess-like complexity and the athletics.
And you can yell until you are hoarse, “Hurry! Hurry hard!”

Exodus...

The march of March has begun. The snowbirds are now leaving for the north, or talking about departure dates and routes.
Of the 180 sites here about 30 are occupied through the summer. The rest of us are seasonals.
Our neighbours Bob & Dot crept away at dawn yesterday, anxious to get back to BC. After a full winter of building their palapa, they are returning to more construction work, continuing with the cottage they are building in Gibsons. Then they will be preparing their boat for the sea. For several years, they have been living most of their summers on their live-aboard boat. Nice life balance, I think -- winters on the Caribbean beach, summers on the waters of the BC coastline.
Our own departure will be in about 10 days. After the exhausting months of the construction, and a couple of enjoyable visits, we are enjoying this period of relative calm.

I touched a monkey...

... last night, and I liked it!
I was musing with Susan and Juliet, that I had never touched a monkey. That evening we went into town and I met my first. Lolita, a white-tufted-ear marmoset dutifully posed for three photos and earned 100 pesos for her handler.
So small, so fragile, sooo cute!

Another fish in the sea...

Our daughter, Juliet, escaped the Great White North for a 10 day visit. Again it was low key and relaxing, mixed in with a few outings. The big discovery is that Juliet takes right after her mum --like a fish to water, literally. I am not a great water person (higher up the evolutionary scale, I insist.)
Juliet donned mask and snorkel for the first time, and away she went, steaming around the reefs in search of her genetic ancestors, the pretty little fishes. It was a first for Susan, as she always has been the first in the water and the last out, until now.
They explored our own beach, Yan Ten, Yal Ku, and then for her birthday, Xel-Ha, where after a full nine hours, they could have swum some more.

Back on land, we spent a morning at the Coba ruins, this time covering the whole site with the help of rickety rental bicycles. (recommended.) Juliet climbed the great pyramid, Nohoc Mul, tallest in the Yucatan. (Susan and I had done the climb last year,) and spent time reading the many signs and crawling over smaller ruins.
My own favorite photo was this one of the tree bark. Very reminiscent of the Tony Onley print that we have in storage in Canada.

Carnival touched down in Playa in a small town way, with a week of street markets and stage entertainment. Very loud, colourful, and exuberant. On the stage we saw one of the most bizarre costumed performances I have ever witnessed - wild dancers led by a geriatric couple in fat costume who were the king and queen of something... ¡Aplauso, aplauso!

Fresh Air Food...and Drink.

In the two weeks Gail & Walter were here, we ate all our meals out in the fresh air.
Our now functional palapa eating area is where we had our breakfasts, and most of our lunches, dinners and snacks. The TV has become a lonely old friend.
After eating, we would retire to our comfy couches and chairs and settle in for more chat and reading time. I consumed two novels these last two weeks, a real measure of relaxing for me.

Taking it to the Street...
It is a common fear of travelers to Mexico that they will, or might likely at least, catch the dreaded Montezuma’s Revenge, Tourista, or more precisely, traveler's diarrhea.
We decided years ago on our first trip deep into Mexico, that we would not deprive ourselves of the tasty local Baja specialty, fish tacos. We held out until the second day, then indulged and became addicted, eating them virtually every day for the rest of the trip.
Since that time, 8 years ago, we have continued to enjoy the local street food, sometimes at open air eateries, but often from the sidewalk vendors. They prepare and dispense a wide variety of flavorful food, with regional variations -- usually tacos, but also barbeced-whole-fish-on-a-stick (Guayabitos), variations of Mexican corn-on-the-cob with all the trimmings. On one trio to Guadalajara, I tried our over a dozen new, different edibles and drinkables, my favorite being a slightly fermented corn brew, tejuino, nutritious and refreshing.
There are few things I don’t care for, such as chicheron -- deep-fried or even worse, stewed pig skin. A lot of street food can be fatty and starchy. To make the popular empanada take a circle of corn dough, fill it with meat or cheese, deep fry it, and then add some salsa and thick creme. Can you say “myocardial infarction?”
A Mexican style sandwich, “torta”, usually starts with a fresh bun, slathered with mayonnaise, which is grilled before adding a variety of fillings, always ending up very tasty. Even the lowly hot-dog is a flavor treat mexican style. When we were in Catamaco last spring, we treated ourselves to several of these hand-made delights with about six condiments over the weiner, all for 7 pesos: about 50c US.
Here around the city of Playa, there are portable lunch stands on many corners, busy with the local workers and passersby. I have my favorites that serve salbutes, and panuchos. In the evenings, many little restaurants feature pastor, pork and/or chicken barbecued-on-a-spit. Even right here where our PaaMul road joins the highway there are two busy taco stands, that have a wide variety of familiar and mysterious fillings including chiles rellenos.
Our neighbors Bob and Dot have a rule never to eat at any food stand that is not permanently bolted down. Maybe I am just lucky, or have slowly insulated my internal systems, but in these 7 years, I have had exactly one instance of overnight purging. (Susan’s number is three.)
So when our Canadian visitors came here for their first trip, we were a bit wary on their account. We have heard the stories of the dreaded ailments that really put a damper on a holiday.
However, they were game to try the local food, and every second day or so, we stopped somewhere for lunch or dinner. (I think food just tastes better in the open air and it is a bonus if you have your feet in the sand.)
We tried a couple of “nice” restaurants, but our favorite was the the busy and economical El Fogon. (See photo from previous post) My prairie-dog brother-in-law even out-hotted me in the spicy salsa too! “Hotter, hotter...!”
The punch line is, we got an e-mail that they are home, safe and sound, full of good memories, and as far as we know, no bugs. Yay!

Open for business... of relaxing.

Now that we were on our own, we scurried around getting the palapa in some semblance of order for our first visitors -- my sister Gail and her hubby, Walter from Regina, Sask. This was their first trip to the warmer climes of Mexico and we wanted the visit to be enjoyable.
We got a coat of sealer on the stucco, installed a few more lights, and switches. The waterworks had a couple of annoyingly slow leaks around the tenaco and pump and these were brought under control. Saturday afternoon, before they arrived, I gathered up all the tools and parts which were spread out over two tables and every available flat surface, and secluded them in the bodega. Suddenly we had living space.
The couple of weeks at the end of January were unseasonably cold and windy here -- bringing out our long sleeves and often jackets. One afternoon as I was working up on the roof, I even dug out my toque! (I don’t like getting my ears cold) and survived the ridicule.
This week though, nature has reverted to its pleasant self.
We have our outdoor kitchen functional, and have been enjoying our morning toast and fruit plates, afternoon snacks and evening barbecues outside on the palapa deck.
Monday we had a reconnaissance mission to the tourist shopping zones in Playa. It was our first trip down to 5th Ave. this winter, and it was lots of fun. We had a nice fish lunch right on the beach.
To get the full experience of Mexico, eating out at the smaller restaurants is a must. Nothing quite like sharing a plate of chorizos, chuletas, cebollas, quesadillos, tacos, and all the sauces with the ambiance of the other diners, roving singers, and the passing parade of pedestrians and traffic next to your open-air table. The blurry photo posted here is to record that the prairie boy Walter, out-hotted the rest of us on the hot sauces. Says they aid digestion and cleanse the bugs which might be around our food. So far so good for everyone.

And finally we are giving ourselves some beach time. We have been collecting shells and getting wet in the waves. Gail and Walter are trying out the mechanics of snorkeling and this week we will try out Akumal and Yal-ku, a couple of the prime snorkeling spots around here.
Yesterday we toured the Tulum ruins. We hadn’t been there since 1990, when we first spent a week in the Yucatan. I could see that tourism in this area had grown immensely, taking account of the crowds around the site. Still it is awe-inspiring walking on paths among the many stone buildings where the original inhabitants had walked more than a thousand years ago. We also share the paths with dozens of gray and wrinkled iguanas that probably have lived here all along. Oh the stories they must share with their grandparents and baby iguanas.

Peace!

The work crews finally left. The digging and drilling, mixing, tiling, grouting is finally over. A bunch of the tiles had to be cut by the electric grinder, as we had all the floor tiles set on a 45 degree bias. Of all the jobs on the site, the noisiest and dustiest were the blocks and tiles being cut by the grinder. Not unlike getting your teeth drilled by the dentist -- not as painful perhaps, but unrelenting, day after day.
I used this same grinder to cut the spaces for our electrical outlets. Usually the breeze would carry the dust away.
My most gruesome task was modifying the underside of the bano counter. The style of counter they build here is a concrete slab of 3 inches with a thick layer of adhesive and the tiles on top. The tap we bought was to stand beside the sink. While I had left a hole for the tap, the apparatus had threads for a two inch counter. I had to lie on my back in a close space, grinding above me. I would take a deep breath, grind for about 30 seconds, and then bolt out of the room for air. When I was done, I looked like a ghost, my face and hair thick with gray dust. More clean up...

On the quieter side, we have installed the living area furniture. Mmm, the couch and seats are wonderfully comfy. They are a resin rattan with weatherproof fabric that is made for patio use. Now I just need to take some time to sit in them.

There's electricity in the air

Our utilities, electric, water and gas, have been an integral part of the build; integral in the design of course, but also integral in the walls and ceilings with the lines running through or inside the concrete block walls. In my drawings, I tried to anticipate where every light switch and plug should be, and where every water outlet and drain worked best.
This is one of those situations where a lifetime of assumptions that things simply work because they do, has to meet the reality of it being designed and built it to work that way. Flick a switch and a light goes on. Hit the button on your computer on and it springs into service (usually). Step into an elevator and the doors close and open somewhere else.
Not that we are building a skyscraper here, but each light has to find its way back to a switch in another location.
Fortunately, we can run many of the wire legs in stiff plastic conduits along the outside walls and on the concrete roof of the bodega/baño. Then they go down to the appointed outlets inside the block walls through flexible plastic conduits.
Mexican wire is all single strand and so I am running multiple wires throughout. We only have 30 amps to work with and so I am dividing up the three main items, the water pump, the air conditioner, and the washing machine in different 15 amp circuits. Some of the conduits get very crowded.
It sounds simple when I think of it, and even as I write about it, but the final result is a sort of maze.
Fortunately, I have my building buddies Bob and Dale to help. We all visit each others’ sites and talk things through. Those guys have more experience than I and have been very helpful. My cousin Gerald was down here visiting and spent a couple of afternoons on the job as well.
I was pleased that I had gotten most services where I wanted them but still missed a couple.
I had to bang new openings for the bathroom fan and a couple more plugs, and was feeling quite done when I realized that I hadn’t created the passage for the dryer vent. Another 4” hole in the wall, along with the dust and detritus.

Grouting

The final stage in the tiling floors and walls and counters, is the boquilla (grout). Once again there are several places to shop, with different brands, and colours - but not very many.
We had a range of ideas of what would look best in the different rooms, counters and walls. We ended up buying a couple bags, about $7/ea., to try out and again we had help from our neighbors who had some left over grout.
I set out a work table with mixing cups and remnants of tiles and made some samples. One choice was easy Mostaza (mustard) looked best for the bathroom walls and counter, holding the yellow, red and blue tiles together.
For the main floor tiles, we were hoping to introduce some green, but nothing we tried looked right. We tries some red, but again, no. I mixed this red with various proportions of green to make browns and this looked better. So I was dispatched into town to bring home something that was between “this and that”. I found Caoba (mahogany) that hit the mark, and just in time as it went on that day.
For the kitchen counter, I was back to my mixing board and came up with an olive that was 1 part green with 2 parts mustard.
We think it turned out well, but I think that is part relief because another stage of construction, another mess is over.

Tile Tales

Tiles are going in this week. Yay! Suddenly, the whole look is taking shape. A long time coming, and a lot of rough water under the bridge.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the building is the selection of the tiles we are using in the palapa. They are so permanent.
Some basics first.
The whole floor is being laid with ceramic tiles. For us that is about 60 square metres (650 sq feet). The bathroom walls are getting tile, another 18 M2. The bathroom counter and the kitchen counter are both covered in tile. Then there are the decorative tiles added to the mix.
There are numerous tile stores in Playa, as well as three places that sell the rustic hand-painted Mexican televera tiles. There is also a large televera tile store in Cancun as well as a selection at the Home Depot.
We started looking months ago. We were advised that if you find something you like, you should get it as there seems to be an unreliable supply. Of the five main tile stores in town, a couple have crates of tile stacked around the store or stored in the back. The others have single tiles in racks, or on display boards. Often the lighting is poor, so it is difficult to know exactly what you are seeing. It seems that our eyes too, become programmed to be seeing some, and missing others. Like when you buy a brown jacket or a blue car, and suddenly you are seeing brown jackets and blue cars that weren’t there before.
We checked them all out and then on the second go round, we found a floor tile we liked. We paid a deposit, and were told it would be here in 2 weeks. Close to a month later, the tile arrived from the warehouse in Mexico City, but when we went to pick it up, something was wrong. It didn’t seem right.
We checked it against the sample and sure enough, they had sent the wrong colour. Aiyee! After some debate, we got our deposit back and started again. Over and over, we made the rounds of the tile stores. Now we were restricted to finding some thing that was in stock. We even bought a couple of single boxes to take home and look at on site. Finally we settled on a tile and it was delivered just in time.
The bathroom is another story.
The baño all started with the sink. Hand-painted sinks widely available throughout Mexico. Very bright and colourful, they are all made in Delores Hidalgo, in the Mexican interior.
At Joben, the televera store in Cancun, we found another style of these sinks, finer detail in the painting, and in the style that sit on top of the counter. We found one we liked, and then proceeded to look for tiles that would go with it.
We eventually started carrying the sink around with us, holding it up to various tiles to see the match. Besides the wall tiles, there is an opportunity to add some colour with trim. For these we were back to the televera shops. Choices, choices.
Suddenly the guys were ready to install. A couple of quick trips into Playa and away we went. They need a few more of the decorative colour, so I scoot into town first thing in the morning. Oops, they ran short of the solid blue. Another quick round-trip. And then it was time to get the tiles for the kitchen counter and backsplash.
In four days last week, we made seven trips into Playa and Cancun, to many tiles stores and including a warehouse in Puerto Moreleos, and I think, I hope, we are set.
And now it is time to choose the grout -- more colour choices, and only days to decide.

Details, details

Now that the new year has kicked in, our crew has been making progress daily with a bunch of smaller details.
But first, when our guys show up around 8 am, each day starts with the morning ritual desayuno cómico (breakfast comedy). They gather in a circle and bring out their food, and talk and laugh. I think it is a great way to get the day going. It is common knowledge that this indigenous population is warm and friendly, and easily given to laughter.
Then they amble over and carry on with the long list of finishing touches. The stucco is almost complete, and Susan and I put on a coat of sealer in the bodega. It is a milky white solution, not very opaque, and looks like a very bad coat of paint.

My oddly designed windows turned out to be a bit of a challenge getting the glass blocks to sit in balanced rows. I had purchased a bag of plastic spacers. I brought them out and as we all looked them over, it became apparent that my windows with the glass blocks all offsetting on the previous row would not work with the square corner spacers. So it was back to the basic methods of setting each row slowly, one block at a time, using pencil lines and two levels, adding the white cement, then adding some more, tapping the block this way and that, until each was in the desired position. It seemed to take a while, but the final result is very good.
I finalized the drawing of our kitchen. The meseta (little table/ counter) is also made of a concrete slab hung along the wall and supported at the ends by concrete blocks. I illustrated my basic idea with a few stacks of blocks and some construction boards. That is Susan feeling out the new space.

Tonight as the day faded, I took this pic of the front windows - a couple of eyes looking out on the world.