Z Papaya Chronicles: Home Sweet Home January 3-7, 2015

After a bit of a delay due to having to have the plane de-iced we arrived in Zihuatanejo to beautiful balmy tropical weather. Roxy did okay on the flight. The tranquillizer the vet prescribed for her took the edge off without rendering her comatose and she tolerated her entrapment in the carrier with only the occasional scratch. Note to Canadian travellers taking their dogs:  You need to have the official form (Canadian International Health Certificate) filled out by your vet which you can download from the Government of Canada website. You then need to take this to your local Canadian Food Inspection Agency where it will be offically stamped and signed for a cost of $20.00.   No problems at the airport. The inspector noticed us in line and came and took our paperwork and processed it while we stayed in line. Once we were through customs he was there waiting for us, I signed the form and off we went. No problem bringing in dog food. We told him we had some and he smiled and said "no problemo". A very nice man.

We are now settled in nicely here at Casa JimBa (our own name for our apartment).

 Our landlords Monica (of Patio Mexica cooking school fame), her husband Hector and their son Juan are lovely and so helpful as we navigate our new life. Roxy has settled in and is starting to be accepted by the various adopted street dogs here.  They are getting used to seeing the dog on a rope and no longer snicker when she passes by.

We did a big Shopping at Commercial Mexicana, the Mexican equivalent of  Wallmart and stocked up on a few gringo necessities like a toaster, a garbage pail and a lidded tub to store dry foods like cereal and such to keep the critters out. Our space is pretty open to the elements and we don't want to encourage the jungle rifraf more than necessary. We tried as much as possible to buy local and though We are definitely in need of some other "stuff" for now we are settled. We also walked down to the local market, mercado, which is massive and has everything under the sun, including the kitchen sink. The display of fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish are a symphony for your senses.  Bought a few things and it was less that 40 pesos (approx. $2.50) - one large papaya, carrots, garlic, onions and a cucumber and man did that carrot every taste sweet!  So nice to have fruit and veges in season. There are some things you definitely don't see at home - green sausages. Yum!

Late afternoons on the rooftop patio is very entertaining. Sipping tequila, we are entertained by many visitors, including this handsome fella and birds.