A day in the life: self-distancing in Mexico
For the moment I can say that if you have to stay at home, it might as well be on the water in Mexico. Having said that, there is no telling what the immediate coronavirus future holds for any of us. There aren’t many cases in Quintana Roo so far, but if it gets here it could be bad because, like the American government, Mexico has been doing a lot of backing and filling, especially at the federal level. And economically, a large percentage of the population lives not so much month-to-month as day-to-day.
So what’s our typical day like at our small condo complex in Puerto Aventuras?
In some ways it’s not so different than back in Charleston. I get up early and take the dog for a short walk down the street and back. Then I start the coffee and get Manito (Little Peanut) his breakfast. Since he’s very sensitive to anyone being near him when he eats – unlike any other dog we’ve ever had – I open windows and doors while he eats. Being right on the canal (I mean about 15 feet) we’ve been getting great breezes. So during the day we just open everything up. Then at night, we shut it down and turn on the air conditioner in our bedroom. Even though the breeze is usually still strong at night, we decided to go the AC route to keep the humidity down. And it also serves to give us noise relief from neighbors and critters.
After Manito finishes eating I let him back into the bedroom with Lydia, who is usually just waking up. He leaps up on the bed, bounds around and then settles in to go back to sleep, curled next to Mom. He’s very cute in the morning.
Lydia spends her coffee time on the computer, still in bed, while I read the news online on our little, raised deck overlooking the canal. Until this craziness hit, I would watch the charter fishing boats and tour boats go down the canal in a steady stream. Today, just two boats of local fisherman went out. One of the reasons I put Manito back in our cool bedroom while I have my coffee is so I can have my coffee. He’s very energetic in the morning and, if left to his own devices, would be staring me down until I get the leash for his first big walk of the day.
We call this walk his morning “hunt,” because, like most terriers, he’s always on the lookout for prey. One of the great things about our location, something we didn’t really consider at the outset, is that we’re right across from Central Park. This large, just-being-developed area was originally supposed to be the back-9 of the golf course. But as more and more courses were built along the Riviera Maya, the developer decided to leave his course at its original 9-holes and to repurpose the rest. I agree with his decision, but those people who bought “golf course lots” are understandably upset. For us, though, the park is great. We have long walking/jogging paths, pickleball courts, an outdoor gym, playground and fenced in dog park, all directly across the street. In the morning, Manito can see/hunt sereques (a large rodent), iguanas, squirrels and many kinds of birds. Each type of prey requires a different hunting technique and he has mastered them all, all while remaining on his leash.
After his hunt, Manito often entertains his little friend Chico, a slightly corpulent but very enthusiastic chihuahua. Chico and Manito are fast friends and their play-time is hysterical. Chico isn’t as fast or springy as Manito so he likes to use his weight, more like a wrestler or a hockey defenseman. Manito, on the other hand, runs like the wind then jumps on the bed to escape his bud. It’s amazing how fast they can get their short little legs moving in our small apartment. Around the table, on to the couch, under the dining table they churn, finally Manito breaks into the lead and heads for the bedroom where he leaps up on the bed with Chico on his hind legs snapping as Manito plays “king of the hill.” Then Manito jumps over the top of Chico and off they go again. This can last for a half-hour, including rest time, while we visit with Chico’s Mom, Deborah.
Once Chico has gone and Manito is out cold we plan the rest of our day. And that’s the big difference in our life down here, we generally don’t have the day planned in advance. It’s more, “what do you feel like doing?” Sometimes its errands, which take more effort than usual because, until a couple of days ago, we didn’t have a car. So if we hadn’t arranged to get a ride with our friends Anne and Rick, we would often take the golf cart up the hill, park it by the main gate and walk across the road to the supermarket. While I say across the road - it is as a bird flies or an iguana, that doesn’t get flattened in traffic, crawls - for us humans it’s more of a trek. The road is akin to an interstate highway and you have to walk one way to go to the underpass and then a long way back the other way to the store. Once there we do our shopping (the store kind of resembles a super-Walmart) and then grab a cab back to our golf cart (about 70 pesos or about $3). The whole thing takes the better part of a morning, but you get some exercise and some sun.
If we have to go further afield, say to Home Depot or Sam’s Club, then we go to Playa del Carmen, about 20 minutes up the road. For these kind of trips we typically have gone with Rick and Anne. Now that we have a car, however, we’re mobile outside the gate, or, as I told Lydia, “we’re hypermobile.” Inside the gate we have a golf cart, outside now a car. We rented a neighbor’s Toyota Rav4, until we get our resident visa and are able to register a car in Mexico.
Many days we’ll go to the beach. This was especially true when Lydia taught her water aerobics class in Fatima Bay and I’d walk over when she was done. Then we would go the PA Beach Club, which is open to residents (owners and long-term renters). There they have a large pool, a swim-up/beach bar, a restaurant, beach loungers and chairside service. But since all the tourists and snowbirds have left, and we’re practicing social distancing, Lydia’s not teaching, so we take the golf cart and our own chairs to the public beach (right next to the beach club) later in the afternoons.
A moderately interesting aside: the beach club has become a very political institution. It’s owned by the developer, still developing PA after 30 years, who is a very controversial figure in town. Many of the local property owners, especially, it seems, the American and Canadian expats, avoid all venues or activities related to the developer. I won’t get into the reasons here, partly because I still don’t fully understand the issues, but suffice it to say that it resembles the boycott of Trump’s properties by liberals after the last election. It’s only real impact on us is that if we want to go to the beach with friends, for instance, it will probably have to be the public beach. One further aside, as I’m talking about beaches, all the beaches in Quntana Roo, our state, are closed, as of today, though we’re not sure those orders will be enforced.
If we don’t get to the beach somewhere, we’ll spend at least some time sitting by the pool in our complex. It’s a very nice pool, though it’s location isn’t ideal. The complex we’re in is made up of 16 condos on two floors. It’s built in a “V” pattern with eight units on each side, 4 up and 4 down, pool in the middle. Our unit is on the very end on the left part of the V. And the way it’s situated, we look across and down the canal, with no opening onto the pool. So while everyone else’s patio or balcony opens on to the pool, and they all hear and interact with one another, we’re in our own happy little world.
At night we’ll have cocktails at home or “docktails” on the dock, about 20 feet from home. Our usual companions are Anne and Rick, but other residents drop by from time to time. From the dock we can watch the sunset before going our own ways for dinner. Before social distancing began a couple of weeks ago, we would go out to eat at least 2 or 3 times a week. We have about a dozen restaurants to choose from, all within walking or a short golf cart ride. Most are closed now or are doing takeout/delivery only. We can only hope that all will re-open when this is past and that their employees, who we’re trying to help, won’t be hurt too badly.
Sometimes we’ll watch TV, Netflix or Amazon. If we entertain now, it’s with Anne and Rick, because we’ve made a deal to stay apart from everyone else but them. And they likewise. They’re calling this arrangement “social cohorts” – an amusing term on so many levels.
That’s pretty much what our days are like. Oh, we started playing pickleball with, you guessed it, Anne and Rick. That’s been good for a few laughs, exercise and an excuse for an after game swim, complete with cocktail. We also go out on Anne and Rick’s boat , when the breeze is down, for a tour of the canals and a swim. Now that we’re hypermobile I’m sure I’ll be reporting back on other activities we’ve discovered, but not until this damn virus passes. Stay safe and healthy.