Last night I started to feel like it is time to go home. I spent a couple hours organizing my bags between checked luggage and carry-on. My recent shopping spree added quite a few pounds and takes up space, but I figured I got everything in, so maybe there is room for more…..mañana....
But first, I took my last Ecobici ride to Salon JYN,
the “salon de belleza” Tía Tizy recommended ( google maps said six minutes by bike ) to get a haircut, manicure and pedicure in one easy stop. I figured I’d pay about 1000 pesos but she charged me 620. Diana and I discussed the low price and reasoned it was because the shop did not have the fancy massage chairs that are so enjoyable during a pedicure. Regular chair, but pampering none-the-less, with conversación en Español. Muy bien!
I had breakfast after at the local organic market and restaurant in my neighborhood.
I’d done take out from there on el día de pirámides, but had not yet eaten in for a meal. It was pleasant and delicious
Now I was fed, packed and pampered with a whole afternoon to spare, so I hopped on the subway to el centro-
a different stop this time so I could come up near a large market. It was crazy and sort of scary because I was definitely not in my own neighborhood, so I did not get a good picture of the inside. I took this one incognito because I was aware of the warning to not flash iPhones in public.
The big orange bags are filled almost as tall as the woman in the white shirt are filled with Cheetos or something like that. There were huge bags of several different types and flavors of snack food in dozens of different stalls. This is a source of the products the street vendors sell in individual serving sized everywhere in the city ( actually in ALL the cities I’ve been ).
I was looking for local candy and hot sauce and found both as well as a couple other things. I walked outside to find more stalls,
then had a difficult time finding my way back inside to the subway, but eventually I succeeded.
My theory of shopping is to buy things I could not get elsewhere, and if I like it I buy one for me and another for someone else. I’m even thinking I might try some resale online.
I got back on the subway, went one stop to the tourist area and made one last stop at a stall in the sidewalk where a woman was sitting in the sun with items I’d been seeing everywhere,
but these looked freshly displayed, not sunburned like the goods in an outdoor stall sometimes look.
I bought a couple new items and some duplicates. Now my bags are definitely full!
At dinner time I walked around my block and found a new (to me) sidewalk café where I sat with an iced chai tea and chatted with the masero while I waited for Tia Tizy to drop by for a quick farewell visit.
She lives and works nearby, and is busy at work, but took a break to have a coffee with me. We had a nice visit and agreed to stay in touch.
When I returned home I had a good conversation with Diana. She helped me understand the taxi Seguro reservation I had for tomorrow morning at 6AM was not my best option. I had forgotten that Sergio drives for Uber on occasion. Diana talked and talked with explanation that the taxi was too expensive, etc. I listened intently, and after walking to the taxi on the corner to cancel my existing reservation, returned home to discuss the replacement option. Diana talked and talked some more. I listened intently, and as is often the case, I smile, nod and pretend I understood it all. But this particular case, I needed to be sure I knew how I was getting to the airport at 6 AM. So at a break in her talking, I admitted “entiendo solo mitad que dice”. She laughed, and started again, but I interrupted and said “me permites dijo que entiendo” and repeated in Spanish:
“Tomorrow morning, I will look on my Uber app to get the morning price for a trip to the airport from home. I will not confirm with Uber because Sergio will take me and I’ll pay him directly instead of through Uber?” Exactamente!
We gave each other smiles and high fives and I went up to sleep for my last night in Mexico for this trip, confident in my airport transportation in the morning.
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