I went to the dentist today. On Saturday I was eating cheese and crackers and felt something and a cap popped off one of my back teeth. Luckily I didn't swallow it! But gotta say....eating really good jack cheese and some gouda, with saltines was heaven, so I put it aside and continued to munch. We went shopping at Mexicana Comercial; it's a huge grocery store in Ensenada, but someone told me that in other places in Mexico they're even bigger. It's just such a better deal than the other grocery stores we been shopping at. Calimax is everywhere- kinda like Super Ley over in Sonora & Super Precio in Guerrero. But the Calimax near us- as I'm sure I've already said here, is really expensive because it's the closest to the American enclave out here. Ha- I should try one of the many Calimax's in Ensenada to see if it's any cheaper. Anyway at Mexicana, the meat is sooooo cheap. Then when we were there Saturday I saw all the cheeses. The first couple of times I saw the stand alone display of cheeses, and they were from around Mexico- Sinaloa, Chihuahua, etc. and so all "white" cheeses. But this time I stopped at the second display and found yellow cheeses...yippee. Sharp cheddar, and then the two I bought- oh ha ha jack is not yellow- but this jack was much better than I bought from some other places...very flavorful. And I also bought a small round of Gouda which is also so good. I was very excited about my find, and so losing a cap from my teeth was not going to spoil my pleasure!
Because I had had a root canal, and then had it capped, it didn't hurt, even with coffee or cold water, although I was still careful to try to sorta slurp onto one side....Well I washed the cap and put it in a plastic bag and then today we went and found a dentist.
That was after my latest zumba experience- which didn't go all that well. I've been walking down the beach for an hour every morning first thing (well half hour each way) with Sam & Hazel and they have come to not only enjoy it, but to expect it, and they will wait while I have my coffee, but then the looks start, and if I get up to go to the bathroom and/or put my shorts & tshirt on...they start jumping all over the place. And when I say "walking" well I use the term loosely because I dance during most of it. I play the zumba music Ericka gave me when we left Penasco, and it's always fast and so it's motivating me to keep moving. When my rock & roll songs come on, if I am breathing hard- ok panting and trying to catch my breath I might listen to one, keeps me walking and dancing, but slower. Luckily I know the steps to the song for my arms and also one for the legs, and then after that I just sort of make it up as I go.
Our beach has lots and lots of clams on it, some shells still have clams, some are filled with sand, and some are empty. The empty ones are of no use for me- they don't throw far, but the other two, I can fling them into the water and then Sam goes crazy putting his head under trying to retrieve them while Hazel bites at his back legs. It's my mistake if I pick up a clam on the way out because then Sam will pester me for the entire hour. If I wait until the way back, well at least he only bugs me for half an hour. I can't really throw very far; with his ball I have one of those chuckers to get any distance. So I walk and if I pick up a clam I kinda wait until the water is coming in and then throw them....but like I said- wow when did I start throwing like a girl??? So I dance and sweat and the dogs have a good time and if I go around 8am, then by a little after 9 I'm in the shower and getting ready for the day. Yes I do remember writing my intention to do this twice a day, and now that daylight savings time has started I may do that. I may also try going back to the zumba in the back yard of that young girl for 50 pesos a week...cause if it's still at 5pm it's not going to be cold, or get really cold during the workout. Vamos a ver.
Ok, so Everardo started going to a Spanish speaking AA meeting over in Maneadero last week. Actually last weekend I asked him why he never went after we heard about a 10am meeting over there. (It's about a 10-15 min drive). So he went but wasn't thrilled with the 10am but heard there was an 8am every morning so her went to that the next day (Tues). He really liked it. He said it was pretty small so everybody got a chance to share. The other meeting was big; they went around a circle reading and commenting and not everyone got a chance to share. So he really like this one- I think it's a discussion meeting and with only 6 or 8 people everybody gets a chance, and the Spanish meetings are and hour and a half and you get to share for 15 minutes. And another cool thing happened. Getting up early and going to the meeting gets him going and when he gets back he's ready to do something. Last week he worked on the kitchen tile job- it's slow on the wall in a tricky spot behind the stove, he made a spot outside for a garden, went and picked up some horse poop for fertilizer (ha ha it's free around here-lots of horses). He started another little project bringing up these thick ropes that wash up on the beach from fishing boats and is putting them on the short wall in front of our place, draping them on both sides so we can see it as well as people driving by. Then yesterday when he took the dogs swimming (yeah the water is warm enough already!), he pulled into shore this huge - well I don't know what it's called. Kelp I guess; it has these thick arms and these bulbs on them that sometimes I throw into the water for you know who to chase....
Well the piece he dragged up here was weird- it has all these small stones wrapped up in it; tiny strands of the vines wrapped all around these smooth stones kinda like hair. I'm sure the stones got smooth being in the water, but does that mean this kelp/viney stuff was on the bottom of the ocean, how else did it get all these stones? So he took a knife down to the beach and cut off a bunch of these stones, but left the thin vines that they were wrapped in intact. He put them all around the area he is making for the garden. Looks pretty cool. Oh and he also bought a couple of really big fat tomatoes, ate them like apples, and planted the seeds in small cups and put them in the window so we'll see if they grow. Anyway the point is he feels motivated in the morning now, and prior to this he felt like he sat on the couch all day playing games on his laptop. Now that's not really true, but he was doing it for a few hours every day- and now he's not doing it until late in the day or in the evening when we're watching tv- and I'm cruising facebook or writing here ha ha.
He came home last Wednesday and told me there was a zumba class in the same building as his meeting and it started at 8am like his meeting! Ooooh...yep I was interested. So Thursday he went and asked how long the class was, the price, etc. They said 70 pesos a week, but then said only if you buy a month's worth, otherwise it was 100 pesos a week. hmmm. So I went this morning, after being very excited about it all weekend, it was inside and probably not the hard cement I was dancing on at the girl's house...we could go together...So of course last nite I started watching a movie really late that didn't end until 12:30 (with Jennifer Lopez when she marries a bad guy, tries to escape him, learns how to fight...yeah seen it a bunch of times and yet watched it anyway). The thing is- for me, going to bed at 12:30 means sleep is at least 1:30 so getting up this morning at 7:15 was tough...did I mention I also had bad dreams associated with the movie so I didn't sleep well? Ok so I dragged out of bed. Bugged Everardo to drive faster because it was going to start without me...ha ha of course when I got there it door was locked, 3 other women also came and all talked about why is there no class...all in Spanish so that was good for me. Then one called the instructors and they said half an hour, or 9am....well now it's 15 after 8, so I went into the meeting where Everardo was and closed my eyes, amd almost went back to sleep. Ok they show upabout 8:40; it's a husband and wife, and they had a flat tire. There's kids there with other women because today they celebrate Benito Juarez day, even though it's the 21st, they celebrate the 3rd Monday of March so people can have a 3 day wknd, schools and bank closed- uh oh will the dentist be closed? (And I don't know if the celebration works this way all over Mexico or just here in Baja.) We didn't start until about 9...
So I talk to the woman and I try to pay, and ask if she has change since it's 70 pesos and she says no problem. her esposo will handle it after class to put me in the book. Well then she tells me that it's not really zumba....that every day is different- we dance on Monday but other days we have kickboxing, working with the rods, the jump ropes...etc. hmmm I think, and she rushed to say that we are always moving, there's always steps....I guess my Spanish is getting better cause all these conversations are in Spanish and I'm holding my own..ha ha. She tells me she wants everyone to enjoy themselves and to work on their bodies. She asked if I like to do abdominal workouts and as I smiled and said "of course...not- look at me" she looked at me for a moment and then laughed. The routine was ok, not too much dancing, but alot of areobics, right? Kicking and arm waving..I was kinda disappointed, and then when the zumba was over her husband took over with the mat work. Now I did not want to do the mat work, because I didn't have a towel and I didn't want to lay on a dirty mat...but I did. She was busy making some protein shakes that apparently they sell, to which they add some Herbal Life stuff...hmmm again. Then after it was over I went to pay & he didn't want to give me change for my 100 peso note. I told him all the ladies there told me they pay 70 pesos a week. He and his wife then told me that's if you pay in advance, but other women were lining up to pay their 70 pesos and I realized that none of these women can afford to pay a month ahead. The Everardo showed up and I told him they wanted me to pay 100 pesos, and he said, this week we are paying 70, and the wife quickly said ok. Then the guy say I have no cambia (change) & a lady behind me speaks up because she has 7 ten peso coins to pay her week. So she pays and he gives me change. BUT SEE? She was paying 70 pesos, just like everyone else...I always get the gringo tax!
So I may or may not go back tomorrow morning. I really have no desire to do kickboxing, or jump rope...and actually I missed my dance/walk with my doggys on the beach this morning. And if I do return, it will only be for this week. If I had loved it, if it had been more zumba dancing (ha ha Erika spoiled me in Penasco), if it was zumba all week...but I also was going to have to sit around for a half hour afterwards each day because I would finish at 9 and hubby not until 9:30...and the truth is, walking is working. I am feeling better, energized, and my clothes are starting to fit a little better after just a month or 5 weeks (just a tiny bit better but hey progress is progress), so I'll see how I feel when I wake up.
Ok so after all that- we came home; Everardo took the dogs for a walk while I took a shower and made my protein shake. The off again in search of a dentist. But he had one in mind because he asked a lady at his meeting and she told him who she went to, but then told him about another dentist that was very popular, and that's who we went to see. Kinda funny- he's right next door to a bakery! Oh man all the sugar smelled so good. Ok this office is about -well I suck at approximating size, but maybe 20 feet across and 15 feet deep. The entire office. The front half was the biggest, a few chairs for waiting, maybe a coffee table- no, I think just some chairs. Then a wall with a couple of decorative square holes in it that went 3/4's of the way across and then the patient room. No doors. You walk in and to the right is a dentist chair, and just enough room for the dentist to stand next to it. Behind him is counter space with those things you put the instruments in..what are they called...autoclave? Actually there were 2 of those. On the far counter, which can be seen from the waiting room is a small tv on pretty loud. There is a spit bowl next to me that looks pretty old, and a light above me. I was surprised when I heard a drill; he drilled the left over cement inside my cap and cleaned it. But I was looking around this tiny room- he and I could not have both been standing up. And it was a cement room...so nothing was sparkling white, no shiny chrome, and he was not wearing doctor whites. But I did see him wearing gloves, and I did see where he got his instruments from (altho' not the drill), and he did shoot my tooth with water and then air.....He used tweezers to place the cap, fit it on perfectly- actually I wondered how he knew which direction to put it without trying it once- and then had me bight down hard for a little while. He said my tooh back there was getting old (ouch) and that I need to be careful in the future- no more biting thru bricks or hunks of wood....oh and the best thing was....it cost about $16USD. Yipee.
So the place did not look like a dentist's office, there was no soothing music, no receptionist, no magazines to peruse while you wait. I have no idea how he does xrays- or if he sends you somewhere else- Everardo talked to him about getting his front tooth capped because he has a big chip...we looked into in Calif and it was going to be soooo expensive without insurance that I decided it gave him character ha ha. I don't think the office was 15 feet deep, because I think I was about 8 feet from the open door to the outside, maybe 6. He charges about $20USD for a filling. Wow! Can't beat that. I believe it was clean, yet not sparkling white and shiny as I said. He wore a mask when he worked on me. What I was having done I don't think risked any infection...he simply cemented my cap back on, and only drilled the back/inside of the cap. So it was fine. Would I go back there? Yeah I think I would, I guess maybe depending on what I needed. I am terrified of getting root canals, and I've had a couple, maybe 3 or 4, and I need the pain meds as much for my anxiety. There were more people in the waiting room when we left..ha ha of course I heard them come in and spied on them thru the wall...
The longer I am here, the more my perception changes. Things do not need to look perfect to be perfect. A job can be done simply. I want places to be clean of course, I want professionals to take care of me, and I want safe practices and environments...and I believe the doctor and dentist offices I have been in have done that. Like I said, I don't know how he does xrays...I would want to know...but overall it was ok. When I got here almost 2 years ago, would I have been fine in that office? I'd like to think so, but I'm not sure. I come from a world where we expect alot. We expect the most current technology, we expect total customer service, we want things to look good, bigger is better. We want to be impressed. Well my experience today impressed me; a nice man doing his job in a modest office for a more than fair price. Hmmm sounds pretty good to me.
Because I had had a root canal, and then had it capped, it didn't hurt, even with coffee or cold water, although I was still careful to try to sorta slurp onto one side....Well I washed the cap and put it in a plastic bag and then today we went and found a dentist.
That was after my latest zumba experience- which didn't go all that well. I've been walking down the beach for an hour every morning first thing (well half hour each way) with Sam & Hazel and they have come to not only enjoy it, but to expect it, and they will wait while I have my coffee, but then the looks start, and if I get up to go to the bathroom and/or put my shorts & tshirt on...they start jumping all over the place. And when I say "walking" well I use the term loosely because I dance during most of it. I play the zumba music Ericka gave me when we left Penasco, and it's always fast and so it's motivating me to keep moving. When my rock & roll songs come on, if I am breathing hard- ok panting and trying to catch my breath I might listen to one, keeps me walking and dancing, but slower. Luckily I know the steps to the song for my arms and also one for the legs, and then after that I just sort of make it up as I go.
Our beach has lots and lots of clams on it, some shells still have clams, some are filled with sand, and some are empty. The empty ones are of no use for me- they don't throw far, but the other two, I can fling them into the water and then Sam goes crazy putting his head under trying to retrieve them while Hazel bites at his back legs. It's my mistake if I pick up a clam on the way out because then Sam will pester me for the entire hour. If I wait until the way back, well at least he only bugs me for half an hour. I can't really throw very far; with his ball I have one of those chuckers to get any distance. So I walk and if I pick up a clam I kinda wait until the water is coming in and then throw them....but like I said- wow when did I start throwing like a girl??? So I dance and sweat and the dogs have a good time and if I go around 8am, then by a little after 9 I'm in the shower and getting ready for the day. Yes I do remember writing my intention to do this twice a day, and now that daylight savings time has started I may do that. I may also try going back to the zumba in the back yard of that young girl for 50 pesos a week...cause if it's still at 5pm it's not going to be cold, or get really cold during the workout. Vamos a ver.
Ok, so Everardo started going to a Spanish speaking AA meeting over in Maneadero last week. Actually last weekend I asked him why he never went after we heard about a 10am meeting over there. (It's about a 10-15 min drive). So he went but wasn't thrilled with the 10am but heard there was an 8am every morning so her went to that the next day (Tues). He really liked it. He said it was pretty small so everybody got a chance to share. The other meeting was big; they went around a circle reading and commenting and not everyone got a chance to share. So he really like this one- I think it's a discussion meeting and with only 6 or 8 people everybody gets a chance, and the Spanish meetings are and hour and a half and you get to share for 15 minutes. And another cool thing happened. Getting up early and going to the meeting gets him going and when he gets back he's ready to do something. Last week he worked on the kitchen tile job- it's slow on the wall in a tricky spot behind the stove, he made a spot outside for a garden, went and picked up some horse poop for fertilizer (ha ha it's free around here-lots of horses). He started another little project bringing up these thick ropes that wash up on the beach from fishing boats and is putting them on the short wall in front of our place, draping them on both sides so we can see it as well as people driving by. Then yesterday when he took the dogs swimming (yeah the water is warm enough already!), he pulled into shore this huge - well I don't know what it's called. Kelp I guess; it has these thick arms and these bulbs on them that sometimes I throw into the water for you know who to chase....
Well the piece he dragged up here was weird- it has all these small stones wrapped up in it; tiny strands of the vines wrapped all around these smooth stones kinda like hair. I'm sure the stones got smooth being in the water, but does that mean this kelp/viney stuff was on the bottom of the ocean, how else did it get all these stones? So he took a knife down to the beach and cut off a bunch of these stones, but left the thin vines that they were wrapped in intact. He put them all around the area he is making for the garden. Looks pretty cool. Oh and he also bought a couple of really big fat tomatoes, ate them like apples, and planted the seeds in small cups and put them in the window so we'll see if they grow. Anyway the point is he feels motivated in the morning now, and prior to this he felt like he sat on the couch all day playing games on his laptop. Now that's not really true, but he was doing it for a few hours every day- and now he's not doing it until late in the day or in the evening when we're watching tv- and I'm cruising facebook or writing here ha ha.
He came home last Wednesday and told me there was a zumba class in the same building as his meeting and it started at 8am like his meeting! Ooooh...yep I was interested. So Thursday he went and asked how long the class was, the price, etc. They said 70 pesos a week, but then said only if you buy a month's worth, otherwise it was 100 pesos a week. hmmm. So I went this morning, after being very excited about it all weekend, it was inside and probably not the hard cement I was dancing on at the girl's house...we could go together...So of course last nite I started watching a movie really late that didn't end until 12:30 (with Jennifer Lopez when she marries a bad guy, tries to escape him, learns how to fight...yeah seen it a bunch of times and yet watched it anyway). The thing is- for me, going to bed at 12:30 means sleep is at least 1:30 so getting up this morning at 7:15 was tough...did I mention I also had bad dreams associated with the movie so I didn't sleep well? Ok so I dragged out of bed. Bugged Everardo to drive faster because it was going to start without me...ha ha of course when I got there it door was locked, 3 other women also came and all talked about why is there no class...all in Spanish so that was good for me. Then one called the instructors and they said half an hour, or 9am....well now it's 15 after 8, so I went into the meeting where Everardo was and closed my eyes, amd almost went back to sleep. Ok they show upabout 8:40; it's a husband and wife, and they had a flat tire. There's kids there with other women because today they celebrate Benito Juarez day, even though it's the 21st, they celebrate the 3rd Monday of March so people can have a 3 day wknd, schools and bank closed- uh oh will the dentist be closed? (And I don't know if the celebration works this way all over Mexico or just here in Baja.) We didn't start until about 9...
So I talk to the woman and I try to pay, and ask if she has change since it's 70 pesos and she says no problem. her esposo will handle it after class to put me in the book. Well then she tells me that it's not really zumba....that every day is different- we dance on Monday but other days we have kickboxing, working with the rods, the jump ropes...etc. hmmm I think, and she rushed to say that we are always moving, there's always steps....I guess my Spanish is getting better cause all these conversations are in Spanish and I'm holding my own..ha ha. She tells me she wants everyone to enjoy themselves and to work on their bodies. She asked if I like to do abdominal workouts and as I smiled and said "of course...not- look at me" she looked at me for a moment and then laughed. The routine was ok, not too much dancing, but alot of areobics, right? Kicking and arm waving..I was kinda disappointed, and then when the zumba was over her husband took over with the mat work. Now I did not want to do the mat work, because I didn't have a towel and I didn't want to lay on a dirty mat...but I did. She was busy making some protein shakes that apparently they sell, to which they add some Herbal Life stuff...hmmm again. Then after it was over I went to pay & he didn't want to give me change for my 100 peso note. I told him all the ladies there told me they pay 70 pesos a week. He and his wife then told me that's if you pay in advance, but other women were lining up to pay their 70 pesos and I realized that none of these women can afford to pay a month ahead. The Everardo showed up and I told him they wanted me to pay 100 pesos, and he said, this week we are paying 70, and the wife quickly said ok. Then the guy say I have no cambia (change) & a lady behind me speaks up because she has 7 ten peso coins to pay her week. So she pays and he gives me change. BUT SEE? She was paying 70 pesos, just like everyone else...I always get the gringo tax!
So I may or may not go back tomorrow morning. I really have no desire to do kickboxing, or jump rope...and actually I missed my dance/walk with my doggys on the beach this morning. And if I do return, it will only be for this week. If I had loved it, if it had been more zumba dancing (ha ha Erika spoiled me in Penasco), if it was zumba all week...but I also was going to have to sit around for a half hour afterwards each day because I would finish at 9 and hubby not until 9:30...and the truth is, walking is working. I am feeling better, energized, and my clothes are starting to fit a little better after just a month or 5 weeks (just a tiny bit better but hey progress is progress), so I'll see how I feel when I wake up.
Ok so after all that- we came home; Everardo took the dogs for a walk while I took a shower and made my protein shake. The off again in search of a dentist. But he had one in mind because he asked a lady at his meeting and she told him who she went to, but then told him about another dentist that was very popular, and that's who we went to see. Kinda funny- he's right next door to a bakery! Oh man all the sugar smelled so good. Ok this office is about -well I suck at approximating size, but maybe 20 feet across and 15 feet deep. The entire office. The front half was the biggest, a few chairs for waiting, maybe a coffee table- no, I think just some chairs. Then a wall with a couple of decorative square holes in it that went 3/4's of the way across and then the patient room. No doors. You walk in and to the right is a dentist chair, and just enough room for the dentist to stand next to it. Behind him is counter space with those things you put the instruments in..what are they called...autoclave? Actually there were 2 of those. On the far counter, which can be seen from the waiting room is a small tv on pretty loud. There is a spit bowl next to me that looks pretty old, and a light above me. I was surprised when I heard a drill; he drilled the left over cement inside my cap and cleaned it. But I was looking around this tiny room- he and I could not have both been standing up. And it was a cement room...so nothing was sparkling white, no shiny chrome, and he was not wearing doctor whites. But I did see him wearing gloves, and I did see where he got his instruments from (altho' not the drill), and he did shoot my tooth with water and then air.....He used tweezers to place the cap, fit it on perfectly- actually I wondered how he knew which direction to put it without trying it once- and then had me bight down hard for a little while. He said my tooh back there was getting old (ouch) and that I need to be careful in the future- no more biting thru bricks or hunks of wood....oh and the best thing was....it cost about $16USD. Yipee.
So the place did not look like a dentist's office, there was no soothing music, no receptionist, no magazines to peruse while you wait. I have no idea how he does xrays- or if he sends you somewhere else- Everardo talked to him about getting his front tooth capped because he has a big chip...we looked into in Calif and it was going to be soooo expensive without insurance that I decided it gave him character ha ha. I don't think the office was 15 feet deep, because I think I was about 8 feet from the open door to the outside, maybe 6. He charges about $20USD for a filling. Wow! Can't beat that. I believe it was clean, yet not sparkling white and shiny as I said. He wore a mask when he worked on me. What I was having done I don't think risked any infection...he simply cemented my cap back on, and only drilled the back/inside of the cap. So it was fine. Would I go back there? Yeah I think I would, I guess maybe depending on what I needed. I am terrified of getting root canals, and I've had a couple, maybe 3 or 4, and I need the pain meds as much for my anxiety. There were more people in the waiting room when we left..ha ha of course I heard them come in and spied on them thru the wall...
The longer I am here, the more my perception changes. Things do not need to look perfect to be perfect. A job can be done simply. I want places to be clean of course, I want professionals to take care of me, and I want safe practices and environments...and I believe the doctor and dentist offices I have been in have done that. Like I said, I don't know how he does xrays...I would want to know...but overall it was ok. When I got here almost 2 years ago, would I have been fine in that office? I'd like to think so, but I'm not sure. I come from a world where we expect alot. We expect the most current technology, we expect total customer service, we want things to look good, bigger is better. We want to be impressed. Well my experience today impressed me; a nice man doing his job in a modest office for a more than fair price. Hmmm sounds pretty good to me.
