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Bob Selecting Wine at Nectar

From time to time, as per Bruce and Mary’s house-sitting agreement, they must vacate the premises to accommodate the owners’ friends visiting. This can be somewhat of an inconvenience but when Bob visits that is not the case as there is only the one of him and plenty of room in this place, for sure. Bob proves to be a pretty interesting guy.

We, or should I say Mary had been busting her butt the last week cleaning and shining up the place and now she gets out her prepared botanas as Bob and Nick are due to taxi up from the airport momentarily. The door bell rings and we spring into action. We are met at the door by a tall and broad Hispanic man with one of those pencil thin mustaches that I would be much too lazy to maintain. I swing into gear and help schlep his luggage from the taxi into the house and then we sit poolside while Mary hustles the botanitas and margaritas for us. Bob is a hale 61 year old architect on sabbatical from Bechtel Corp and he is on a cooking sojourn. This trip has taken him from his former home Doha, capital of Qatar, to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, and now he’s here in Mérida where he intends to attend the famous Los Dos cooking school.

I ask about Nick and we hear the story of some commitment that came up at the last second. Mary and I look at each other. We knew we’d be in the maid and house boy business but we were not prepared to provide entertainment services. And we can tell by his stories and the way he benignly regards our scuttling about fetching him drinks and such that he is used to well trained and trusted staff. There were times during his visit that I came to know exactly, the feel of invisibility experienced by household help.

The next morning, Mary and I work our regular online moderation shifts while Bob works at getting his newly created blog up to speed. Then we direct him to Lucas de Galvez, one of the largest markets in the world, to do some shopping and for this evening’s meal Bob prepares red beans stewed all day with chunks of ham and served with cheese melted on the top, in coffee cups, which is oddly appropriate. This is the side dish to the best chicken soup (sorry mom) I have ever had. This soup has been stewed with many different chilies, peppers and conventional herbs and spices, but we wonder what is the secret ingredient? Saffron. Mary and I have never tasted Saffron before, but suffice it to say that not only does it have its own incredibly savory taste but it is like salt on acid , in the way it enhances and brings out all the other flavors in the food. I raved on about it like an idiot until I noticed that nobody was listening. Bob tells us that typically it costs about the price of gold per gram, but he got a particularly good deal in Vietnam where it was only the price of silver. I’m done eating so I spring up to start clearing plates but Mary grabs my arm and gives me a hard look. Oh yea, we’re in civilized company, now comes an after dinner drink and some civilized conversation. Eventually I do suggest another drink on the promenade while Mary and I bus and wash the dishes and we get a chance to hear a little about his life.

Bob, fresh out of architect school, took a peace corps posting in South Yemen, before the countries were united into just Yemen. And since this, he has spent his life overseas, working for the last 20 years, specializing in airport design, for Bechtel Corp; one of the largest privately held engineering companies in the world. Bechtel has always been active in the Middle East and Bob says he used to see shady CIA types hanging around on a regular basis. Bob has been posted in London (lousiest weather in the world, he says), Madrid, Paris, and many other places I can’t remember now, eventually ending up in Doha. Not only does Bob travel extensively for business but he loves to travel for pleasure and he does it in first class fashion. He claims he’d be a millionaire several times over if not for his passion for travel. Bob speaks Arabic and Spanish, conversationally, and he has a unique perspective on the Middle East, understanding the tribal nature of the cultures. We get into a debate about the mission in Afghanistan and I finally take the initiative to agree to politely disagree when he makes it be known that if Walter Cronkite’s radical commentary from the front and the subsequent protests hadn’t caused the politicians to pull out of Vietnam prematurely we would have won that war like we’ll win this one if we stick with it.

It’s another work day for us and we are off shift watching a movie in the media room when Bob gets back from the Los Dos Yucatecan cuisine cooking school. He tells us that Chef David Sterling is everything he is cracked up to be and the cultural trip into one of the nearby pueblos definitely enhanced the experience. I asked about the group and it was 9 of them with a good representation from the east coast (all were gringos) but it was a quiet group which took some of the fun out of it and some participants, gauging by the way they handled the tools of the trade, were novices. But the school was well worth his time as he goes so far as to say that even at the $150US fee for the one day affair, triple the most he had ever paid for a cooking school, he was glad he did it.

It is Saturday, Halloween, or Day of the Dead down here but more importantly it is Mary’s birthday and we

Day of the Dead Parade

are barhopping our way towards downtown with the goal of finding a decent place on Calle 62 to eat and watch the parade. Last year we stumbled upon the parade and it was very cool.

We find ourselves at La Bella Epoca, a fancy Italian restaurant with a big screen TV and it is game 4 of the Yankees/Phillies World Series and it is happy hour with cocktails only 30P, about $2.30. Que Bueno! Our table is right in front of one of the big doors to the street and soon the parade is upon us with firecrackers and rockets nearly maiming bystanders, that is another thing I love about México, there is no tort law so be on your toes! But the parade is a real disappointment, maybe ¼ the affair it was last year. We wonder if this is another sign of the recession here in Mérida and the world. We sit back at our tables and the cell rings. It is Bob, he is in La Corazon as well and wondering where we are. Moments later he joins us and Mary and he engage in active conversation, both caring as much about the series as I do about the fine points of roasting garlic. I’m okay as me and my new friend Damian, a young Aussie Yankee fan call the game. We order our food, but with all the botanas I have eaten bar hopping, all I really want are some tostadas which aren’t as good as what Bob whipped up for lunch the other day. Mary has a vegetarian Spaghetti with soy crumbles which is quite good. Bob announces that he is off and a little later, when we ask for la cuenta, the check, we discover he has surreptitiously paid our bill. I’m really starting to like this guy!

We’ve knocked off work today and are having cocktails with Bob. It seems that while chatting with David Sterling on a break at the cooking class Bob was told that Nectar is reputedly the finest restaurant in Mérida. Bob wants to treat us, so we hop a taxi and head out to Colonia México Oriente where we debark at the avante garde steel and glass front to Nectar.

We are ushered into the small dining area where we sit down just opposite the equally small bar. The lighting is subdued and we can see into the large brightly lit kitchen, totally exposed over a counter, to the patrons. Bob insists that we have drinks before we even think about ordering the appetizers which he insists upon, as we rarely order them on our own. Mary has a good old fashioned beer, Bob and I, having already become martini buddies, do that. Then we order our appetizers. Mary has a soup (a delicious red pepper puree served over a cream base with a fried morsel of camembert cheese, increidible! she says) and I have a Tuna steak thinly sliced with some sort of soy/ginger infusion. It is pretty awesome. Bob has duck stuffed enchiladas and we all share. Bob ranks mine first and his last. Now, it’s on to the wine selection. Mary and I are such rubes, we’re just happy to be there as Bob pages through the cork bound wine menu and makes his selection and then they do that wine dance that people and staff do when fine dining. Mary and I are quite content to watch the whole show. Bob is happy with his choice, the wine is poured and we order our entrees after poring over the choices. I am amazed that the entrees range from only 160P to 340P, about $12 to $25, in this, the best restaurant in Merida. Mary orders a pasta dish made with perfectly done penne pasta and three treatments of tomato. It is delicious. I order the encrusted jumbo shrimp stuffed with goat cheese and Bob orders the brisket. Our meals come and there has been some confusion over Bob’s meal as they have brought some sort of steak. The manager, a very attractive 30ish woman, surprisingly dressed in casual form fitting jeans, intervenes and whisks the platter back to the kitchen and poor Bob has to wait as we, rather, I gobble (Mary has never gobbled food in her life) our food down. Finally Bob’s brisket arrives and it is still not what he was expecting. Roberto the chef comes out to chat, his English is excellent from a 3 yr stint in Philly and he has just done a tour at Per Se in NYC. He amicably explains that the brisket is not what Bob is used to, because clientele expectations (ironically, in light of all the fat in typical Yucatecan carne dishes) here, at this high end establishment, are that all fat is to be trimmed from all cuts including brisket. I know nothing of these things but I am convinced. Bob tells me later that it was all BS.

For our trouble with the brisket we get complimentary desserts, a light cheesecake made with chevre. It’s okay but I wonder why it has to be made of goat’s milk although I know a lot of people down here are freaks for goat milk and cheese anything.

Bob settles the bill and our server calls a cab and we are on our way home. We have cocktails on the promenade and call it a night.

After his overnight trip to Chichen Itza, which for a guy who has seen the pyramids and been to Angkor Wat, was just okay, Bob is back now this late afternoon and it is his last day. We decide to order pizza and we eat in, relaxing by the pool and sipping our wine and beers. Bob fires up his Mac and shows us an incredible slide show of his sojourn thus far. I am absolutely entranced by the vivid color, lush landscapes, mountain vistas, and the antiquity of the Hindu temples of the Indian portion of his slide show. I want to go there. Bob makes me promise that we will enlist his aid when we do, as he has close family friends that run a travel agency in Dehli. Deal!

We have nightcaps and we say our goodbyes to Bob, as he has an early morning departure. So as we are snoring away Bob wheels his gear to the door and heads to the airport. It is Saturday so we sleep in and upon finally crawling out of bed we are happy to have our place to ourselves again. But we are also glad for Bob’s visit and we are happy to call him a friend.

Thanks for visiting gentle reader. It is interesting that many in Bruce and Mary’s network thought they’d last a couple months down here and then come home with their tails between their legs. But they, through much serendipity, really have made their “escape to México”. And as Bruce and Mary have become established in Mérida they are getting nearly monthly visitors with the next visit from their daughter Helen in just a few weeks. They are really excited about that. Mary is already figuring menus and itineraries. Hasta luego, amigos.

Bruce, Mary, Harriet, Nancy, and Sue at La Choperia

Now that Mary and Bruce have established themselves down here in Mérida, México they are starting to get a stream of visiting family and friends. This day Saturday, October 10^th, is the day that Mary’s mom, sis, and friend arrive. Let’s join them right now.

Today dawns like every other Saturday except for Mary’s palpable excitement over the fact that her mom, Harriet, sister Sue, and Sue’s friend Nancy will be flying in this evening. But none the less we still do our workout at California gym, out post-workout high protein meal at Lulus and today we stock up on fresh produce and fruit at the colorful market Lucas de Galvez, one of the largest mercados in the world. This is always a sensory delight and I am proud to not get lost in the complex anymore. After our shopping trip we stop at the reopened JazzinMerida club (under local ownership in this reincarnation) for a light meal and beers and we are pleased with the low prices for a pretty nice, air conditioned place. Beers are 15P and my Pescado mojo de ajo, garlic-coated fish fillet is only 39P and is charmingly accompanied by FFs along with the white rice. Mary has the Torta Cubano, the Cuban with FFs also, for 44P. Very nice, especially with México beating Honduras in the world cups on the overhead TV.

We settle up and head home to prepare for our visitors which means Mary puts together a killer line-up of botanitas and I do my share by mixing up some Margaritas.

It’s 9 and Mary is fidgeting like a little kid as she goes thru her check list before heading out the door to taxi to the airport to meet the women. In a flash she is back and I am pressed into doorman duty and once again it is fun to see and hear the expressions of wonder at the scale of this place as we lead them through the front rooms and kitchen and onto the mini-courtyard and then to the pool-side promenade. After all, this house is just a shade under a football field long.

Mary serves up her botanitas, I serve the drinks and we stay up late, pool side, getting caught up. And I meet Nancy, who by virtue of their cabin on the Canadian side of Lake of the Woods knows as much Canada-ese as I do. Also early in the evening, I introduce Mary’s 85 year old mother, Harriet to her new toy, Mary’s old IBM laptop computer as we are intent on getting her into the email age, but of course we have an ulterior motive. With internet at her house, it is much easier to work our online moderation jobs when visiting MN. I promise Harriet daily computer lessons.

Sunday, every one sleeps in and I watch the Vikings on my P2P video streaming which sucks most of the time but isn’t too bad today, while the woman have a late breakfast in the kitchen. At about 3 we all motivate to walk down to La Corazon, the heart of Centro for the weekly fiesta called Mérida en Domingo. I conduct a sort of walking tour as we walk down Calle 60 the main street of Mérida. Despite the heavy pedestrian traffic on the skinny sidewalks, Harriet, with Mary’s assistance does well on this mile long walk. At La Plaza Grande we stop at a taco stand specializing in Tacos al Pastor. Mary helps everyone order (except me, I am somewhat self sufficient) and we sit down under the canopy in the shade. Everyone is holding up quite well in the 95° heat and they all love the tacos. From there we tour the perimeter of La Plaza which is full of vendors of every sort. Sue is on a mission to find dresses for her four little granddaughters and the other women have their own shopping agendas. I am happy to be along for the ride, I love being in La Plaza on Sunday, the people watching cannot be beat. After checking several vendors Sue comes upon a real possibility and the deliberations begin. Make no mistake, Sue is a deliberate shopper. I cruise on ahead, knowing this will be protracted and I am rewarded by coming upon a portraitist just finishing up the likeness of a young mother’s 4 yr old daughter. He is sitting cross-legged on the walkway as the little girl trades places with her 8 yr old brother and I get to see this portrait from start to finish. I am the first to stand there and watch but soon there is a sizable crowd, of which the portraitist is absolutely unconscious. I watch him wet his finger to create shadows and his use of other effects in this pencil portrait are absolutely mesmerizing. After about 20 minutes, with what started with some penciled ovals and circles, this work turns into a startlingy accurate but gentle likeness of this rather homely and chubby kid. I am very impressed. I ask the mother what he charged: 50P, about $3.75 per portrait.

I check back with the women and Sue is just wrapping up her dresses purchase and it is time to head back. They decide to taxi back, but as the cabs only hold 4 I walk back and Nancy is kind enough to keep me company. We speed walk and get to our door the same time the taxi does. It’s time for dips in the pool and happy hour and an early bedtime as every one is pretty beat.

Monday is Canada Thanksgiving day so both Mary and I have a vacation day from our Canadian moderation jobs and everyone sleeps in. After breakfast everyone relaxes around the pool and I give Harriet a computer lesson. She is nervous but catches on and really picks up the action of mouse quite quickly which is hard, as this old IBM has the center of keyboard red button mouse which I

had never seen before I saw this computer, given to Mary by a friend.

It gets to be 3 and the women are off to Let’s Speak English. Sue is a retired public school librarian andNancy is a current El Ed teacher so they are quite excited to be involved. And of course Harriet wants in on the action. They come home just pumped, they had so much fun. Sue was a hit with her string stories. And she was thoughtful enough to have string for all the students, to really engage them in this fun exercise. I hear all about this during happy hour by the pool and then, after dips in the pool to cool off, we discuss where to eat and Mary and I recommend Las Yardas, just a couple blocks away on Paseo Montejo which we want to show them anyhow.

We get organized and walk up Paseo, the Champ de Elyse of México and it is very tranquilo. We sit at a sidewalk table and order the namesake dish, for an appetizer. Papas Las Yardas are FFs with Magi  and pepper sauce sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Highly unusual but quite tasty, everyone agrees.

We have our main courses with jarras, pitchers of beer for Mary and I (they are small pitchers), Mojitos for Nancy and Sue and Chardonnay for Harriet. We have a great time with the conversations ranging from Aspergers kids to Nancy’s son Andy’s huge Halloween parties. This is Nancy’s treat and I explain how there will be a 3% international transaction fee on her statement but the favorable exchange rate over the local change houses will cancel that out. Back home we break out some Xtabetun, Mayan Ouzo some call it, and have a nightcap and then it is off to bed for all of us.

Tuesday is a work day for me but the girls, after sleeping in, head to Restaurante La Chocolate for a genuine Yucatecan breakfast buffet (for 49P) and then onto Santa Lucia Parque to pick up the City Tour bus which is a pretty cool 2 hour narrated tour of the city. Then they go….shopping! They do the bulk of their shopping at Las Casa de Las Artensenias at their main store near La Plaza Grande. This is a state subsidized outlet for genuine Maya art pieces and crafts supplied by approximately 200 local Yucatecan families. With the state’s help, 90% of the gross goes to these families. Mary and I do a lot of Christmas shopping here.

The band of women is back at around 5 and Mary makes everyone sandwiches. We all lounge around the pool and then off to bed as everyone is pretty worn out.

Wednesday is another work day for me. The women sleep in and then they head out the door to….go shopping! After a bit of that they treat themselves to lunch at the beautiful boutique Hotel Casa San Angel and they have the pleasure of meeting the hotels grand dame, Homa. Homa is an octogenarian of Persian descent raised in DF and she is still very vital and a most gracious hostess. The women cap off their shopping for the day at the high-end gift shop at this fine hotel.

Back home Mary puts together her adobo pork roast with roasted vegetables and fried plantains which we serve poolside and it is a hit with everyone. Adobo mix goes on everyone’s shopping list. For dessert Mary serves up her Key Lime cheesecake. Voila!

Thursday is a work day for me again and for Mary as well so the rest are on their own. We have pointed out the Archeological Museum on Paseo so that is their destination this day. It is probably the finest Maya artifact museum in the Yucatan and they do hire a guide to enhance their experience and they are also quite pleased to report that on their way there, a local gentleman held up traffic on divided Paseo for the ladies to cross and then shouted to them, “Welcome to Mérida!”

After relaxing in the pool during the afternoon we head up to La Choperia for dinner but naturally we stop at the adjourning gift shop to, well you know what. I hang out there for a bit and then I am inspired to cross the parking lot and secure a table for us in La Choperia’s Ceiba tree-sheltered garden. I have one beer. I have another beer.  And I am about to order a third when the women do show, quite pleased in displaying their conquests. We order drinks, beer for Mary, Chardonay for Harriet and Mojitos for Sue and Nancy. After much deliberation we order the meal for four which is a steak grilled at our table to our specifications. Harriet and I prefer medium rare so we eat first! Mary chooses this day to be vegetarian and orders just FFs. Everyone is very happy with the food and Sue is very generous in making it her treat.

Friday we are both off from work and after breakfast and Harriet’s computer lesson, I head to the gym and the women taxi out to the house of Mark Callaghan, owner of the Huun Paper store. While I am having a righteous workout they are getting the low down on the ancient practice of Mayan paper making and of course they don’t come away empty handed as Mark, even at his house, always has a supply of handmade paper and art works (Mark is a renowned artist as well) on hand.

Harriet Relaxing Pool Side

After meeting up at home, some take naps, some relax in the pool, it’s been in the mid 90s all week. And some of us just drink beer and wine and BS. At around 3 Mary and I rally the troops and we head up to the combi stop near La Plaza Grande. Naturally it starts raining just as we leave but it is a light rain and stops altogether by the time we get to the stop. We immediately spot an Xcanatun (eesh-cahn-a-toon) combi and as there are 4 of us the combi fills quickly and we head out with little delay. This driver must have a nervous condition because his foot is spasming alternately on the gas and break pedals and it is quite an exciting ride through town. Clearing the city his foot steadies and soon we are taking the exit to the sleepy town of Xcanatun and to the renovated henequen hacienda that gives this pueblo its name.

We debark at the parking lot and are met at the door by Maitre’d Angel, who ushers us by the hand-rubbed antique wood bar and baby grand piano to the veranda. The locals are in the air conditioned dining room, but we know the view from the veranda is spectacular and we want to share it. Carlos is our server and he, like Angel, is fluent in both English and good humor.

Angel brings the chef’s special’s chalk board and rests it on a chair and carefully explains the offerings. There are several choices of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Nancy, Harriet, and I choose the fish special, grouper with a special crust in which the main ingredient is chicharrón, pork rind. Now who doesn’t like a nice crispy pork rind?, but I have had chicharrón soaked in salsa, which is not so good, as it reverts back to what it was originally: pig’s skin. But I am assured that this is of the crispy variety and ground up with other ingredients, so we go for it. Sue is curious about the Atun, Tuna steak, which she has never had. Nancy and I assure her it is nothing like Chicken of the Sea and it is Nancy who has the foresight to give instructions for the chef to “cook” it as Sue usually orders her steaks medium well. Mary has a delicious poblano cream soup with bleu cheese and salbutes. I don’t know why she ordered salbutes, as this is like ordering a hot dog at The Rosewood Room, but she insists, even though we are here to celebrate her birthday (a little early, Mary is a Halloween baby) and Harriet is treating! Everyone loves their food.

After clearing our plates, Angel, Carlos and half the staff bring an incredible chocolate cake layered with caramel, while singing happy birthday to Mary. No one told them, they just picked it up from our table talk. The plate is drizzled with an astounding black cherry syrup and written in chocolate syrup is Happy Birthday Mary on the rim of the plate. Because of Mary’s unselfishness, I am able to say that this is the best chocolate cake, nothing else even close, that I have ever had in my entire life. We are all in agreement on that.

Mary Celebrating Her BD, With A little Help From Her Friends

Finally we push away from the table and while Mary and Harriet are freshening up in the ladies room the rest of us make our way to the hotel lobby and arrange for a tour of the facility. “Jerry” a staffer who speaks perfect English is summoned and we all set out on our tour. The suite he shows us is huge and very private, which is the theme of this establishment. The only TV to be found anywhere is a large screen in the common room, converted from a chapel (complete with confessional). The bathroom of this suite is quite stunning, with a hot tub carved out of solid limestone. After visiting this magnificent suite we do hurry through the beautiful gardens as dusk is setting in and the mosquitoes are coming out. We give Jerry a hearty thanks and walk through the parking lot to the road.

Our timing is perfect as we are back on the road just as a city bus arrives, heading back to Centro. The bus is empty but quickly fills up and I spend the last half of the ride standing as I give up my seat for a local lady who has, with Mary’s assistance, quite an animated conversation with Nancy.

We get off the bus at Calle 47 and home is only a few blocks away but in the way is a Oaxaca fair at our parque, Santa Ana, and the women decide to….shop!

I have Margaritas ready when the women do arrive and we relax by the pool as the women take turns packing as tomorrow is getaway day. Sue surprises us with a very cool gift they had all pitched in on, a set of beautiful  blue tinted blown glass liqueur cordials with a slightly fluted dark blue rim. She had bought them quite surreptitiously, right under Mary’s nose, at the Casa San Angel gift shop. Perfect for toasting with Xtabentun.

It’s 4:45 Sunday morning and Mary is hustling in the kitchen putting together a light breakfast and some snacks for the flight home. Everyone is amazingly bright eyed as, right at the stroke of 5, our favorite one-armed cabbie Roberto rings the bell. He joins us for a coffee and then we cart the luggage out to his taxi and we see Harriet, Sue, and Nancy off, with instructions to Roberto to be sure to croon some Beatles tunes on the way to the airport. He assures us he most certainly will. And with tears in her eyes Mary gives everyone hugs at the door.

Mary and I talk quietly about how good it was Harriet, in particular, to visit us as now she knows first-hand where we live and she better understands our life down here. And we hope that Sue and Nancy, and Harriet, make our Mérida home an annual, if not more frequent, destination.

Thanks for visiting gentle reader. This post is dedicated to you Sue, with the hope that you start once again the well-respected and time honored tradition of journaling. Hasta Pronto!