The whirlwind tour

So to our trip—we landed at Loreto on Sunday and went to check the dining table and chairs shipped from Monterrey to Conchita’s Curios. Although we were told the shop owner Conchita would be there, we found the shop shut up tight as a drum—she had gone to La Paz and no one could tell us when she would return. Cruised by the shop Bazar Loreto that sells Ken Edwards pottery, and it was also shut. This is the touchy one as that owner is an elderly lady who shuts down the shop for 3 months during the hottest part of the summer. Her health is not good and I am afraid she will croak off before I can buy pottery. So then we got on the road to Santa Rosalia earlier than anticipated. The 2 ½ drive did not seem so long this time.

We spent the next 3 days in Santa Rosalia walking through the guesthouse (Casa Boleo); taking measures and seeing what had been done; interviewing guesthouse staff; putting a down payment on our house (Casa Abeja) and measuring it. We found a cook and housekeeper out of 4 applicants. I am excited about the staff, I hope they work out well. Interviewing in Spanish was difficult for me not so much the speaking but remembering what I had said. After the third interview I could no longer remember which applicant I had told what to. I started out pretty well but dissolved into Spanglish as the interviews proceeded—the worst moment was when I said “week-o” instead of “semana.” Esperando Esposo also interviewed a couple of people for mine positions and tried to get REAL work done sandwiched around that and immigration issues. He has to get a his FM3 (like a Mexican green card) stamped with a domicilio or next time he goes into Mexico they will not let him leave the country—so he has been told. It is a complex issue requiring a lot of paperwork and 2-4 days to process. Fun, huh?

Then we drove back on Thursday to Loreto for the flight to La Paz for the furniture and appliance purchases. We probably chose appliances in about 15 minutes and spent another 40 minutes trying to organize the payment. Then on to Ramos, the furniture store where we purchased living room furniture. We stopped at Galeria de la Paz whose American owner is a red-headed wonder woman: she has great taste in furnishings and gets great stuff from all over Mexico. We bought a few pieces for Casa Abeja. After that, a night of great margaritas and food at Las Tres Virgenes and then back to Loreto for a day of R&R. Conchita is open and we check out her bedroom stuff and make another attempt at Bazar Loreto, still barred and chained. I will keep my fingers crossed that she opens her shop again in September.

Conchita gave us great pointers on a local restaurant supply distributor, Dali. We are so lucky! It is the answer to my prayers for how we are going to find the good food we will want to feed people. And it may be they will even deliver to Santa Rosalia if we order enough quantity.