I really should be blogging about the last month of bureaucratic nonsense we have been through, between getting residency, our Mexican driver's licence, Ralph's old age discount card, and the nothing-short-of-horror-film-worthy process of nationalizing our vehicle. Instead, I am going to save all that goodness for when I have a wee bit more perspective (read: head is not going to explode just thinking about it).
Let's talk about the change in availability of goods and services in Oaxaca over the last five years, shall we? Better.
When we lived here in 2009/2010 for our test six months*, we used to:
- Horde cheese: finding a brick of cheddar at the local Soriana was like winning the lottery. We used to buy them all when we found them, gleefully flushed as we raced home to an evening of wine and cheese and crackers. Other expats would come over and marvel that we had cheese. "Where did you find CHEDDAR?" they would ask, wide eyed in amazement.
- Beg friends to bring down boxes of Earl Grey, and then tea bags were always for a whole pot, or at least two cups!
- Carry around dog food in the car to feed the starving dogs everywhere.
- Learn to cook our fave thai or indian dishes at home with severe ingredient shortages. Cardomon? Nope. Thai fish sauce? Hahaha!
- Look amusingly at the only motorcycles in town, the Domino pizza delivery guys who zipped around town.
- Wonder if we would ever gather the courage to try one of the local "sushi" restaurants (there were three). This felt a little too adventurous. Up there on the list of host country experiences that come with time. Like buying non-refrigerated meat, for example.
- Ponder why no one used their rooftops as decks or bars.
Fast forward five years.
- Cheese, cheese, cheese. Wine soaked cheddar. Spanish hard goat cheese. Rondele! There may not be 100 choices, but wow, what an improvement!
- Earl Grey, available at Soriana. Whoot! I can now have a cup whenever. And use the tea bag once.
- Dogs on leashes. Designer dog group meetings in the park. Pugs in sweaters named Poncho. The number of starving, ribs showing pups continues to dwindle.
- Decent Indian food? Two blocks over, three blocks down. Thai we are still hunting for.
- We have never seen so many motorcycles! Lines of them in the Plaza on the weekends! Harley store right in town! Several motorcycle equipment shops. (Yes, I said several!)
- Rooftop bars/patios abound, and oh what fun it is to have a cocktail and watch the local young women teeter up in fashionable platform six inch heels. Joven! Another round!
- Non-refrigerated meat is no longer daunting. Livestock market? Why not! But sushi? When I saw a whole shelf dedicated to Asian products at our local grocery store, I knew it was time for a Sushi Party at our place!
Let's talk about the change in availability of goods and services in Oaxaca over the last five years, shall we? Better.
When we lived here in 2009/2010 for our test six months*, we used to:
- Horde cheese: finding a brick of cheddar at the local Soriana was like winning the lottery. We used to buy them all when we found them, gleefully flushed as we raced home to an evening of wine and cheese and crackers. Other expats would come over and marvel that we had cheese. "Where did you find CHEDDAR?" they would ask, wide eyed in amazement.
- Beg friends to bring down boxes of Earl Grey, and then tea bags were always for a whole pot, or at least two cups!
- Carry around dog food in the car to feed the starving dogs everywhere.
- Learn to cook our fave thai or indian dishes at home with severe ingredient shortages. Cardomon? Nope. Thai fish sauce? Hahaha!
- Look amusingly at the only motorcycles in town, the Domino pizza delivery guys who zipped around town.
- Wonder if we would ever gather the courage to try one of the local "sushi" restaurants (there were three). This felt a little too adventurous. Up there on the list of host country experiences that come with time. Like buying non-refrigerated meat, for example.
- Ponder why no one used their rooftops as decks or bars.
Fast forward five years.
- Cheese, cheese, cheese. Wine soaked cheddar. Spanish hard goat cheese. Rondele! There may not be 100 choices, but wow, what an improvement!
- Earl Grey, available at Soriana. Whoot! I can now have a cup whenever. And use the tea bag once.
- Dogs on leashes. Designer dog group meetings in the park. Pugs in sweaters named Poncho. The number of starving, ribs showing pups continues to dwindle.
- Decent Indian food? Two blocks over, three blocks down. Thai we are still hunting for.
- We have never seen so many motorcycles! Lines of them in the Plaza on the weekends! Harley store right in town! Several motorcycle equipment shops. (Yes, I said several!)
- Rooftop bars/patios abound, and oh what fun it is to have a cocktail and watch the local young women teeter up in fashionable platform six inch heels. Joven! Another round!
- Non-refrigerated meat is no longer daunting. Livestock market? Why not! But sushi? When I saw a whole shelf dedicated to Asian products at our local grocery store, I knew it was time for a Sushi Party at our place!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment