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I think I’ve made a little too much progress, too fast.  I’ve only been here a week, and I’ve nearly figured out the immigration process.  With some help from the people at the immigration office, which I have visited twice to ask questions. 

I don’t quite understand my situation.  I’ve slept a lot.  I hardly do anything but I’m moving too fast.  I’m a little shaky.  Today at immigration a facilitator overheard my conversation with the government worker, and he tried to offer me his services.  Facilitators are consultants who help you with the immigration process, for a fee.  He wasn’t pushy, and when I said no, he said he understood that position.  But it was a bit much, regardless.  It added a little to my mental overhead to have to say no to him and turn my attention back to the government worker behind the counter.

Anyhow, I’ve only been here a week.  I could try to go a whole day without accomplishing anything, but I’m not sure that would feel good.

I’m doing fine, there are no real problems.  That’s a little disorienting.  I ran out of muffins.  I should probably go get some more fish tacos with the spicy sauce.  But I was just there yesterday.  I don’t want them to think I’m going to buy fish tacos every day.  What if I go today and then don’t go tomorrow.  They might worry about me.  Two is a pattern.  I better lie down for a few minutes then go get some fish tacos.

I heard The Doors last night.  Live.  I’m not kidding.  Just three of them.  John Densmore, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison, in that order.  They have a polka band.  I’m not kidding.  They were playing about 20 meters from here.  It was them.  I will have to tell you about it soon.  It was incredible.  I was sober.  Otherwise I wouldn’t trust my recollection.

It just feels sort of normal to be here. It doesn’t feel very dramatic. It doesn’t feel like a sharp break from my life in the USA. Maybe this is because I’ve been to latin america 10 or so times, for vacation, in the past. Maybe also because I’ve watched so many youtube videos about Mexico in the past year. But it is different here, for sure.

I wondered if I would feel some sense of panic being away from friends, family and my house. Like maybe I would get here and realize I had made a big mistake, and a difficult one to reverse. Nope, not at all.

Friends are everywhere. I was walking along a road earlier today and a guy walking along the same road asked me if I spoke spanish. And then we had a brief conversation. He had lived in Arizona for 23 years at one point, he said. His english wasn’t very good. I asked how long he had been in Ensenada. Eight months. I asked him if he thought it was a dangerous city. He was a little surprised by the question and answered vehemently, “No, it’s a good city.”

My host wants to make me soup. She’s concerned about my nutrition. I told her of course she can make me soup.

And there’s a cat that’s talked to me a couple times.

Weirdly, the television mounted on the wall in this furnished apartment is exactly the same brand, model and size as the one I owned in DC. I sold it around 10 days ago for $30. I watched some American football Sunday. The Mexican broadcast flipped back and forth from game to game much more often than is customary in the USA, and made frequent use of a split screen to show two games.

The first night I was here, last Wednesday, I was depressed and had a bit of a WTF-am-I-doing-here feeling, but that was literally the day I flew here, so I discounted it. The next day, and ever since, I’ve been OK. Finding a good place to buy underwear was an early psychological turning point — I’m not kidding.

I had a kind of foggy rice cake feeling in my brain since arrival, and it seemed like the kind of feeling that coffee would dispel, so I kept trying to address it with coffee, but that didn’t work at all. Then today I had some very, very spicy sauce with my fish tacos, and the foggy rice cake feeling is gone.

I’ve only eaten out twice, including today.

Magic realism is a bitch sometimes. I left the apartment to go to a lavanderia one block from here, and I had to walk about 20 blocks to find it, even though the signage was perfectly clear. Worse, by the time I got there I had wings and a tail.

I’ve done some revenge sleeping, and eaten some revenge muffins. I learned yesterday I have a renter for the house in DC, which came as a great surprise somehow. It’s a couple — a lawyer and a consultant.

I came upon a kitty sunning on the driveway.

— Hola kitty
— yawn stretch
— Kitty, do you have a minute
— Yeah sure
— Good morning
— Um. Good morning. Did you need something? Can we just get to the point?
— It’s awfully cold in my apartment.
— Eastern exposure. You need sun in the morning. Find a place with eastern exposure. You’re welcome.
— Oh, wow. That was fast.
— Meow.
— You speak in riddles.
— No I don’t. Just look at me. Do as I do. You need a patch of sun to squirm in, and little else.
— Am I in the right city?
— Yes. But you should have taken unit #3. Eastern exposure. But it’s ok. You didn’t sign a lease. You’re week to week. Just get a place with morning sun.

croar is the infinitive form of the verb for what a frog says in spanish.

espalda means back (the body part). Dedos are fingers.

I don’t think people in the 50s really rocked around the clock. I think they just rocked until 2 in the morning and then said they rocked around the clock. Now everyone feels bad about themselves because they don’t rock until broad daylight. But it was always an impossible standard based on a lie.

today is the second day I’ve woken up here. it was 54 F when I woke today, vs 48 yesterday. i could feel the difference. the cold might be the biggest challenge in Ensenada, and perhaps is the reason the town is not more crowded? the daily highs are very comfortable 12 months per year, but 5 months per year, the low is around 46-50 F, and without central heat, one feels it. I sleep in a wool shirt, wool long underwear, and ALL the blankets.

and I’m skinny. I lost 10 lbs during the last 6 months of home reno. Martha, my host, who I last saw in July, noticed the difference, and commented. people always say “you have to eat.” I do eat! hopefully now that I’m not doing manual labor 7 days/week I can get some fat back on my body in time for next winter.

I set out to find an underwear source, and succeeded. that gives me a few more days before I have to choose a lavanderia.

I also found an excellent source of cash to pay my weekly rent here. an ATM proposed a fee of 9.50 USD for my withdrawal, so I tried another machine on the other side of the block, and the fee was 1.40 USD. all Mexican ATMs offer to do the currency conversion for you, but if you accept, you get a bad exchange rate, and if you decline that offer, your own bank does the exchange at the optimal rate. and since my bank reimburses me 10 USD/month for ATM fees, the cost to withdraw cash is exactly the same as in the USA. 100% efficient.

Processed foods cost the same here as in USA, but unprocessed foods are cheaper. Particularly at the current exchange rate.

small lime, 6 cents
small onion, 15 cents
avocado, 50 cents (on sale)
large bag of corn chips, 5 dollars

I apologize for talking about money. I should be talking about the acoustics. It sounds open here, and existence-y. It sounds like there isn’t a lid on the town.

jaguars have double the bite strength of tigers. gorillas have about 8x the bite strength of humans. jaguars can bite through turtle shells. jaguars can hold their breath underwater longer than dolphins. why doesn”t anyone care when I tell them this. it’s hard to impress people with animal facts these days. people are like meh if I want animal facts I’ll just go on the internet, I don’t need you for animal facts.

I’m dissatisfied with crocodile bite strength estimates as it obviously would vary depending on what part of the lever arm you measure.

I’m in Ensenada. I’m sitting by a space heater and drinking coffee. It is winter here, and you feel it indoors especially, particularly in the night/morning. It’s like camping, if you had a fire you could turn on with a switch.