Getting Settled in Manzanillo
Goyo and his assistant, Gaby greeted Vern, Monique and me when we arrived about 8:30 Friday night. After a few pleasantries with Goyo, Gaby smiled at me and said "Follow me, I'll take you to your casa" and led me a very short walk to what is to be my winter home. I was thrilled! Since I first saw this outstanding complex just before Covid hit, I liked this unit very much. When I left Manzanillo last March, neither Goyo nor I knew what accommodation he would have for me when I returned six months later, but he said he would look after me and I trusted that he would. He didn't disappoint me!
My ground floor unit has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a open concept kitchen, dining and living room. When I'm cooking in the kitchen, my uninterrupted view is of the lovely lawn leading my eye to the pool. My lawn is surrounded by trees, fan palms, and lots of shrubbery. The patio is like an oasis, completely shaded from the sun. This is where I will spend most of my time on days when I'm at home. A three-seater sofa and two easy chairs centred around a large glass and wood coffee table (too heavy for me to move) take up one side of the patio. On the other side is a long table with six chairs. The in-between space has lots of room for my floor easel and painting supplies. Yes, I intend to paint - I have a new commission for a portrait.
The two days after i arrived were spent shopping for food staples and supplies. Prices are higher than when I left six months ago, with many things costing about the same as in Canada. Restaurant prices are also higher. Even beer is no longer cheap. Gone are the days when Manzanillo was a low-cost winter get away. I'll be doing more cooking than I thought.
On Monday I went into the pool for the first time. The water was wonderfully warm, it felt like a bath. I'm told that in the heat of the summer the water in pools is too hot to swim in. Apparently August and September were the hottest locals can remember in many years. It's still very hot and humid, so little wonder that the pool is so warm.
Unfortunately, when i was climbing the ladder to get out of the pool I took a patch of skin off my leg when my foot slipped on a rung and banged on the rung above. My akin has become like tissue paper. It is easily damaged and takes a long time to heal. One of the annoyances of aging. This minor accident is a reminder to be more careful.
Sitting on my beautifully shaded, comfortable patio today after returning from a walk, the water in the pool is sparkling invitingly, like an amorous temptress. I love the water but have to resist until my wound scabs over - hopefully next week.
Tuesday morning I went to chair yoga. but the stairs and rickety bannister I had to climb to get there are too risky for me to go back. i'll wait until water aerobics starts up again in a couple of weeks. Until then, my exercise will be limited to walking the many kilometers-long beach (the best beach in Manzanillo) and that is certainly not a hardship.
It took four days before my nine stored boxes finally appeared. Unpacking them was actually fun, almost like Christmas as i pulled out things I had forgotten about, but finding places to put them was challenging. The unoccupied second bedroom now accommodates the overflow.
I am a very happy camper but I won't know until Christmas if I can stay in this unit for the rest of the winter or if I will have to move. Fingers crossed!
In this first week my social life has already begun, I've enjoyed wine with friends on my patio, and had two dinners with other friends.
Dinner tonight with two lomg-time friends, Keith and Yvonne, was at one of my favourite restaurants, El Marinero, on the beach close to where Don and I rented a condo for eight years.
The sunset was glorious as we watched enraptured while we sipped our before-dinner drinks. The meals were delicious and, I'm happy to say, reasonably priced. It is a Spanish restaurant, the food is mostly different from other restaurants and has always been consistently excellent. We will definitely be back.
Tomorrow, the relatively small group of people currently here at Eureka Villas is getting together for Happy Hour. I've been invited and am lookig forward to meeting some new people.
This promises to end my first week on a high note.
