Monday December 6 2010

Saturday Larry wanted to go to Cocodrilo for breakfast, forgetting again it was Saturday and they are closed. We sat on the plaza for a while deciding what to do. We decided to get another fish and some fruit. Same thing we have done most of the time down here.

It has started to warm up during the day, in fact we have taken the extra blanket off the bed. On our travels down here I have learned to tell how warm or cold it is going to be by how many blankets are on the bed in our hotel room. Its two sheet weather here right now.

Sunday our one objective is to find out what times the bus leaves for Tepic. While trying to read the schedule, which made no sense even in Spanish, a lady came up to help us get the information, we wanted. She spoke very good English and even said the posted schedule made no sense. We learned that the first bus leaves at 6:00am and one leaves every hour after that. We decided we would take the 7:00am bus which (we thought) would get us to Tepic by 10:00 giving us an hour to get to the doctor’s office.

Monday, we were up before 6:00am and ready to go, we could have caught the first bus but I am trying to learn not to be too early when going somewhere. I need to just sit back and relax. If we are late, not to worry most things start late here anyway.

It was a good thing that we got to the bus depot at 6:45 and got our ticket as people started coming to get tickets to Tepic. The tickets were 46 pesos. The bus was full, every seat was taken and people where standing in the aisle. You would have thought the bus couldn’t hold any more, this was at the depot. Before we get out of Sa Blas the bus makes at least 4 stops where more people got on. Now some got off at the small towns along the way but more got on too.

We arrived in Tepic an hour before we thought we would, we had more than 2 hours to find the doctor’s office. We got off the bus before it was at the depot. We have noticed in the past that most people get off at the first stop, where they catch a city bus, taxi or a van, called a colectivos. We caught a colectivo for 11 pesos for the both of us.

The colectivo we went on took us on a different route so we got to see more of the city. Larry was able to ride in the front seat so he had a great view and could see where we needed to get off. We were only 5 blocks from the office and two hours early.

The doctor took us in an hour early so we only had to wait an hour. We both went into her office. Larry showed her the cysts. She had him lay down on her examining table. 45 minutes later the cysts were gone. The visit cost 3,000 pesos.
Larry wanted me to take pictures of his surgery but I wasn’t sure how she would take it. We have to go back next Monday to have the stitches taken out.

Larry went to the bank to use the ATM, his exchange rate was 12.35

Our next stop in Tepic was at a Chinese Buffet. Larry ordered fried rice and I had the economico meal. We could not believe the pile of rice on the platter for Larry then I picked one entrée from ten choices, and also had a large pile of rice. We could have had just my meal and split it between us. As it turned out we brought over half of the food home with us.

Then we went to a bicycle shop to see if Larry could find a mirror for his bike. What a time we had trying to tell them what we wanted. They are probably still laughing at the stupid American’s.

We stopped at a leather store and bought a belt for me, 150 pesos. My jeans feel like they are going to fall off. I don’t wear a belt very often but I will with my jeans and they do fit better with it.

We stopped at one of the bigger stores to buy two plates, and two bowls that are not plastic. I also bought three more tea spoons, one steak knife, one bread knife, a set of pillow cases and a Rubbermaid 1.5 liter storage box with a locking lid for flour or sugar, all for 268 pesos.
While I could have shopped some more Larry is starting to feel some pain from the surgery. We walked into the bus depot at 1:40pm bought our tickets and got on the 1:45 bus to San Blas, arriving back home at 3:30pm.

It seemed like a very long day. We were both tired and didn’t go to the plaza.

The fountian on the main plaza in Tepic.