Project San Pedro Nohpat: The Bodegas

Welcome to Part Two of Pablo’s and my development and first construction project. This is the property with the beginning of the bodega creation.

The bodegas went up, and things were going smoothly. Pablo talked to the architect/engineer about putting some rooms in since they were already digging and building. After a well and septic tank are in, one starts to think about perhaps a little bigger picture.

The bodegas are well constructed cement buildings. I believe they are 4 x 6 sq. meters. There are four of them. Each has a half-bath. The roll-up doors are handy for storing and they lock securely. A truck can back up to the bodegas for loading and unloading.

So far we have two of four bodegas rented. If you are reading this in the Yucatán and know someone who may need to store belongings, please send this information to them. The price is reasonable, they are well constructed, and we have a 24 hour security guard. I am pleased with the bodegas. By next year they may actually be locales, where you can shop, get laundry done, shoes fixed, who knows? Dirt bike parts? My imagination has been inspired now that I see the buildings!

This is the finished product. I am pleased. We have our own little development. We are land barons. Kings of the Barrio. Call it what you like.


Here I am sitting in the bodega as we get ready to set up phase three....the cuartos.

Gucci Fruits for Nuts

I was reading today’s Diario del Yucatán and an article grabbed me. They just auctioned off the first harvest of this season’s Yubari cantaloupes in Hokkaido, Japan. The first two sold for $5,200 US Dollars EACH. Last year the first two canteloupes brought in $23,900 US Dollars. The article said this is a sure sign of the global recession. I am shocked. I knew prices in Japan were ridiculous, but this is beyond absurd. We are talking about the Gucci of the melon world. Here is what burns my ass about this: Some nutcase in Japan paid the equivalent of a year's salary for, say, a typical Indonesian, or even a Chiapaneco(!) to buy one piece of fruit.

I had to know more about this cantaloupe. Is it made of gold? Does it grow a little diamond in its center? NO. It is a simple, supposedly sweeter than usual, and most importantly….perfectly proportioned fruit. It is in fact the perfect summer gift in Japan. If you want to impress your boss, mother-in-law or girlfriend, you give them a cantaloupe, or if on a tight budget just one slice. These canteloupes have been genetically designed to be perfectly shaped and, well, just perfect! Just like the Japanese themselves!

Only the first melons sell for the high price…once the Japanese Agriculture Association grades the rest of the crop, they sell in the supermarkets for a mere $100-500 US dollars EACH. In Hawaii I rarely ate cantaloupe because one piece of fruit, not necessarily sweet or ripe since they are all imported from mainland USA, cost around $10 US. I thought that was exorbitant. This is other worldly.


Yubari Muskmelon intended as a high-priced gift.

Now let’s talk about watermelon. The black, almost square, Densuke watermelons sold at the Hokkaido auction last year for $6,100 US Dollars each. From what I can find online, the watermelon auction will take place next month, so I will keep an eye on the news. We can follow the global financial trends via fruit sales in Japan. The black watermelon is also a near perfect fruit, thus another great option for those “summer gifts” (?)..and available at the supermarket for a mere $300 US.

Time bomb? No, black Densuke watermelon. Ripe and ready for sucking up to your boss!

Here in the Yucatán we eat lots of melons. I don’t remember how much they cost per kilo, but the cost didn't make an impression on me so I think they are within most folks' budgets. You can get a sandía (watermelon) juice or melón (canteloupe) juice practically anywhere for under a dollar. We have the Mennonites who provide us with fresh tasty canteloupes as well as nice cheeses. The fruits may not be perfectly round, but I would rather eat an imperfect melon every day, than to think I had to wait for someone to give me a summer gift. Six thousand dollars for a piece of fruit? Just fork over the cash. I’ll eat papaya.

Kids Helping Kids: PROJECT MÉRIDA

Meet my bro's family: Linda, JASON, LAUREN, and Larry Wodarski.

My family values sports as an important part of a child’s education. My brother Larry lives in Incline Village, Nevada. His 14 year old twins recently read that the kids in the 9th Ward of New Orleans still have no little league, almost four years after Katrina hit. They decided they would like to gift their outgrown, unused, and slightly used baseball equipment to them. They wrote to the Mayor of New Orleans, who expressed his delight and the city’s interest in receiving their donations.

However, when they cleaned out their garage they discovered that in their house alone, they found this much gear:

In our garage we have about 15 soccer jerseys, 5 baseball t-shirts, 14 youth baseball caps, basketballs, soccer balls, baseballs, athletic shoes, a few soccer shorts and socks and we haven't officially started our campaign.

As we discussed their idea, the kids became aware of the shortage (and high cost) of sports equipment in the Yucatán.  When they heard about kids playing soccer in their bare feet using a ball made of duct tape, Lauren and Jason decided they could probably help children in both New Orleans and the Yucatán.

And so they started their project called PROJECT MÉRIDA and engaged their entire village. They have set up collection stations all over town. Their pastor donated storage space for the gear and agreed to accept and hold monetary donations to assist in the shipping of the goods. Here in Mérida I am working with a customs agent to see if we can eliminate duties and lessen border crossing hassles.

Mérida and its surrounding villages have countless children who would appreciate a few baseballs, bats, mitts, soccer balls, and even uniforms. We wrote a letter to the Director of the Department of Deportes, the Department of Education, Cesar Bojorquez, and Governor Ivonne Ortega. Our request was accepted and stamped. Permission granted, but we are now on our own.

Engaging in sports is food for the soul. It’s necessary in a country where child obesity is rampant and rising fast. It teaches camaraderie, sportsmanship, competitiveness and gives kids something healthy to occupy their time other than playing video games.  All kids should have an opportunity to play ball with their old friends while making new ones.

Looking For Adventure

This is Mokito.


The kitties are nearly a year old. For several months three of them have been enjoying the freedom of climbing the tree, walking the wall, and heading over to the other side. We had to perform a few tree rescues at first, but they got the hang of it. Not Mokito, however. He just played in the patio and would sit for hours longingly staring at the “path to freedom”.

A couple of weeks ago he did it! He made it to the other side! The wide open spaces of the abandoned meat packing building next door. Large creatures live there! There is so much adventure and so much to learn. But then he tried to come home. And he freaked out on the top of the wall.

The others tried to help. Sak Boox climbed up and down to show him how. Lorenza went up and licked his head, but then set off on her own adventure. (Moka doesn’t go there! So the Sargeant in charge was helpless and upset!) Busmo went up, licked Mokito’s head to calm him down, and slowly walked in front of him. He looked back and Mokito was still frozen in position. Busmo turned around, went back to Mokito, and got behind him. He nudged him gently a few times. He really gave it a good try. No go.

We called the neighbors, who were kind enough to lend us a tall ladder, and Pablo rescued him. He was humiliated of course, but happy to see food and water again. The next day he did the same thing. Pablo said, “No, let him learn to come down. He has to learn.” I agreed. But Pablo left the house and I was just watching him pant, and listening to him cry, and couldn’t handle it. I gave in and borrowed a ladder from Pedal Loco next door. I brought him down.

The third day he went up again. In the evening he was crying out, and we thought, NO, this has to stop. But we gave in and Pablo climbed up and tried to rescue him. He stepped back. I told Pablo to leave him; that I thought maybe he was ready to do it on his own. It was difficult but we walked away and left him there.

Fifteen minutes later we were sitting talking and we heard “MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!...” approaching us. Mokito ran in, jumped over us, and kept on running, sliding into his water dish, meowing all the way. He finally figured it out. He was so proud of himself. He finally joined the big league.

Creature Features

A person living in the tropics gets used to seeing insects, butterflies, moths, iguanas, birds, and other creatures on a regular basis. What is interesting is how HUGE they are! The iguana that suns himself on my patio wall is nearly three feet long. He watches me in the pool and I watch him back sitting on the top of the wall. I think he will let me take a good photo of him soon.

With a house load of cats, often when I wake up during the night, I see the cats in a circle carefully studying something. Curiosity gets me and I check it out. The cats particularly enjoy hunting the prehistoric sized cockroaches outside, bringing them in, and chasing them around until they are unable to play anymore. Sometimes roaches just turn upside down and play dead. When the cats lose interest the roach flips over and heads back to his business. The cats hunt down a few of them a night. Picking up "roaches" in the morning has taken on a new meaning around our house! They are not house roaches, they are the larger variety. I'd call them sewer roaches. In Florida they avoid the usage of the word roach at all, they are called palmettas.

One night I found the cats surrounding a small snake. The snake was found the same day that a swim student's mom thought she saw a big snake under our bodega. Well, we cemented up the hole. He dug another one. I doubt a snake did that, but whatever was living under the bodega has since moved. We think it was a zorro, or possum. We do have a sneaky possum around here. The snake was much smaller than this earthworm I found the other day in the garden.

As a kid I loved to hunt for nightcrawlers with my dad, so I figured I would show you how big the earthworms are here. Just so you know, the snake was not even half this size.


Last night the kitties brought me this scorpion.

That is my writing pen next to it for size, and of course it is covered in cat hair. By the looks of Mokito's eyes all gooned out, I am guessing he made the kill and was probably stung. The good news is that the scorpions in this area are not highly toxic, and the larger the less toxic. When I lived in Akumal I accidentally stepped on a Mama red scorpion as she was giving birth to at least 50 little toxic buggers and I got stung. I almost jumped through the roof. The pain was horrible, much like a portuguese-man-of-war or box jellyfish sting; it makes your entire body hurt.

I can't wait to see what animalitos the rainy season washes out of their hiding places. I am sure the cats will provide more fodder for another creature feature in the future.

México Gets The Short Straw

As I was catching up on the other bloggers' news, I came across this tidbit. It is a very well written article and is worth a read. I linked this from Debi in Mérida's blog post from two days ago. It is called, "Let's Blame Mexico"...give it a go.

Toilet Paper and The Kitchen Sink

I have been thinking about some of the more subtle differences I experience living in another country. There are constant major hurdles of language and culture differences. I speak Spanish reasonably well, but there are times when I get completely lost in conversation. I cannot imagine what it must be like to go through this culture shock and not speak any Spanish. Mérida is not an English speaking city. Cancún, Cozumel, sure! They want the Almighty Dollar and have learned to speak some English, and even Italian, French, and German. But much of our tourism in the Yucatán comes from Mexican nationals. At the present, of course, there are NO tourists due to the worldwide panic pandemic.

Before I go on I would like to say that Yucatecans are very clean people. We didn’t need any of China’s alcohol or cotton balls here! These folks shower several times a day. This is understandable, especially when the temperature is in the 100’s from April until November. The men here wear long pants, socks and shoes. The women wear dresses, nylons and sport high heels. Walking to the corner I break out in a full sweat wearing a singlet and shorts, but I can jump into the swimming pool when I finish my walks. These folks enjoy an occasional cold shower, a heavy dousing of talcum powder, and on they go to the next task in the midday heat.

Let’s talk about toilets. If you have been to México, you know that most toilets do not have seats. Toilet seats are not an expensive item, so cost can’t be the problem. A 45 peso investment could comfort your hind end for years. Maybe they don’t want people to get in the habit of sitting on the toilet. Maybe the idea is to make sure you squat. I happen to like toilet seats, so my five bathrooms have them.

Why is toilet paper such a coveted item? I know when we travel we wouldn’t go as far as Chichén Itzá without carrying our own roll. The Pemex gas stations along the highways constantly surprise me. I always carry my own paper, and sometimes am pleasantly surprised to find a super clean, nicely tiled restroom, with toilet paper, soap and hand towels. Other times I have to hold my breath, squat over a disgustingly full toilet, and just be glad I have a place to relieve myself as I unroll the flimsy paper I had smashed in my pocket, having not a square to spare, so to speak. Those situations are when you MOST want to wash your hands thoroughly, but of course there is no water…..or the toilet would have flushed six users ago.

Mexican toilets are not built to accept foreign matter. No one throws their paper into the toilet, let alone feminine supplies! There is always a trash receptacle next to a toilet for used paper, even if there is no paper provided. Every now and again I forget and accidentally throw my paper in the commode. After several flushes, it will finally swirl down. It is enough hassle to remind me to use the trash bin.

Now here is what confuses me. Considering an entire culture that doesn’t throw paper in the toilet, I don’t understand why they think it is ok to throw shitloads of food, paper, or whatever, into the kitchen sink. There are no garbage disposals. Sinks are always plugging up. Why? Because there are wrappers, chunks of food and all kinds of gross shit in there blocking the drain. If the toilet couldn’t take it, what makes them think the sink can?

Next up, dental torture.