I moved out of the flat this morning and took a taxi to the homestay. This is a bright blue building, very easy to find, just up the hill from one of the prettiest parts of the town. It’s on a big road which can get noisy, but my room is at the back of the small plot so it’s not too bad. I have a bedroom, a bathroom, a sitting room and access to a very small and bare courtyard that has a single potted plant in it plus a couple of geysers. The rooms themselves are extremely clean but quite bare. The only item of decor is a very large painting of Jesus Christ praying, and there are only two electrical outlets, and no screens on the windows, only glass, so I might get mosquito coils and keep the courtyard door open if it becomes stuffy at night.
At lunchtime it turned out there were two other people staying here, young college-aged women from the US, and they told me a couple of college men are also staying here. It had felt very quiet before and I’d thought I was the only one, but it’s more like a mini hotel. Well, probably for the best – I was not sure I wanted to engage with families all that much, though I shall have to practice my Spanish a little more. But I wish I had access to a kitchen.
This is partly because on a stroll to get some supplies (avocados, bananas, a bar of soap) I came across the local market. This would also have been our local market at the Airbnb, but we had never spotted it despite walking past many, many times. Inside is a small, clean market with lots of produce. Also a gourd seller, from whom I bought a gourd bowl that I intend to use for drinking water since there no glass is provided.
The internet speed is very good, the first time anywhere we’ve stayed in Mexico. I think it’ll be fine, comfortable enough and good for working in, but nothing out of the ordinary. Better than my Nepal place because I have a private bathroom, but also less good because there is less Tibetan chanting at breakfast.