The Cat's Old

The cat's old. The cat's old and sometime she pees on stuff. The cat's old and sometimes she pees on stuff and she definitely peed on the backpack before we left home. Today, we finally had to make history of it because you can't really get a smell like that out and particularly not when you are in a place where the water you wash with smells a little funny, too. This is a long (and heavily stylized, no?) introduction to the bus trip we took out to the big box this morning.

In Merida, it was called Walmart. In Panajachel, it had a different name but the employees all had Walmart badges. Here, neither appeared to be the case. When we asked a clerk about backpacks and she walked us to two different parts of the store to show us the displays of mostly lucha libre packs for kids and actual luggage, we concluded--based on her helpfulness and generally pleasant demeanor--it couldn't possibly be a Walmart. It wasn't until we wandered through the produce section that we realized all of the fruit had come from the States and was displayed in milk crates with the Walmart logo on them. Foiled again.

We've commented, actually, on how few American franchises and chains there are here compared to other places we've been in Mexico. There is a single Starbucks in the center of town, the Walmart we discovered today and a Domino's/Blockbuster combo up the hill from our neighborhood, but to date that's all we've seen.

We spent some time at the Biblioteca Publica today and understand why so many Americans find this an attractive place to retire. There are lectures and book talks and SMA hosts a writing conference each winter that entertains celebrated novelists. This year, Barbara Kingsolver was the keynote speaker. Next week, they are showing a Johnny Weissmuller film and having a lecture on Jose Saramago. I can't decide about which I am more pleased. Within the library, there is a small theater for stage productions and films and a cafe and meeting rooms and books and books and books. The library is housed in a former convent and so the cells are used for different genres and purposes and there are multiple courtyards. Simply, it's lovely, and it made me want to live there: not in SMA but in the SMA library.

We had lunch at a little outdoor place around the corner from home with a small menu. They had tacos: fish, chicken, beef and shrimp. We ordered one of each and shared them. The fish and chicken were delicious, served with a vat of onions, tomato and cilantro and a jug of chimichurri sauce. The others were teriyaki: enough said.

We came back in time to avoid the rains and good we did because today's downpour flooded the streets. I wrote for a bit and Chris read and napped before heading out with his guitar to a Song Circle we read about in one of the local papers. Unfortunately, while he did find the building on the other side of town, there was no Song Circle to be found. Our neighbor, Lydia, saw him on the way back in and told him about another opportunity to play on Tuesday nights so we'll put that on the agenda for next week.

We're delaying our trip to Guanajuato a day or two because we lost our internet connection today so weren't able to arrange our accommodations there and we took our things to the lavanderia today and they won't be ready until after the buses leave tomorrow. In the meantime, Chris is playing his guitar on the porch and I'm fixing to listen to him.