Delicious trepidation is how I might describe our feelings yesterday morning, as we drove up the highway on our way to our new rental. I had seen the outside of the house and we had some assurance from Karita that it was furnished. I was fully expecting Sol branded plastic chairs. I was pretty certain I could find it again on the long stretch of beach houses west of the Malecon. It reminds me a little of the Florida Keys.

We were relieved to find a totally reasonable little house complete with two bedrooms, giant oscillating fans, a dining room table, a banana colored sofa, and a newly tiled sunken shower. we even have a backyard, which would be a perfect setting for a snuff film about IV drug using orphan run aways who find redemption in ritual sacrifice and cannibalism. I’m sure a hibachi and some tiki torches will fix it right up.

it’s not so bad, really. There’s a store 300 meters away that delivers beer and a hotel with an outdoor bar a few doors down. And we are at the beach, in Progreso, which we love for its charming restaurants and family atmosphere. We jumped into our swimsuits and drove into town for some lunch.

After some pollo pibil and garlic shrimp at Flamingos we drove out along the coast to Chelem and Chiburna, where we will be focusing our house search. We were initially sort of turned off about these towns because they have become so popular among norteamericanos for vacation and retirement. But there is a lot to be said for being close to Merida, for an infrastructure. So much depends upon an internet connection. And the towns are totally cute.

We headed to the mall to see a movie and get our heads straight, where it occurred to us to stay here at the good old Suites del for one more week while we find a good enough car and wait for Telmex to install phone/internet in our rental house. It would be difficult for us to live our there stranded and with no means of communication. I told Malcolm that if I had a pony I could start a mail service and solve like, three problems at once. Malcolm says no pony.

I think we’ll like it out there once we have a television, an internet connection, our pillows and painting of Cervantes. Is it terrible that the thought of living without these things gives us a crawly sick sort of feeling? I’m working out what I think about the quality of life/creature comforts that we are so accustomed to. When we were safe in our apartment in New Haven it was easy to think we could sleep on the beach while our house was built. Life in Merida is sweet. We even found Veuve Cliquot for New Years Eve. We will make another small break this Sunday, when for better of worse, we get to the beach, which was the vision we had in the first place.