After a busy day yesterday with our Pedro, his helper, and the washer/dryer guy we enjoyed a delightful evening at Tacos Don Felix. For years Tacos Don Felix was a sort-of impromptu restaurant under a large tent on weekends only in our colonia of San Rafael. Even then there were tablecloths and a chandelier.
Now the restaurant has been moved into his house and garden atop a hill in the same colonia with the same menu (or possibly enhanced). A charming menu featuring very tasty meals served by charming and skillful staff in a charming setting. And he remembered us from our first visit some months ago when we first arrived in San Miguel.
The entrees include the seven taco platter featuring seven tacos with seven different fillings including one with a huitlacoche filling made from the fungus which grows on immature ears of corn. Sounds a bit gross but in the sauce in which it is served it has a very rich, mushroomy flavor. Don't think about what's in it; just concentrate on the rich flavor.
The only distraction was a nearby table of the-ladies-who-lunch having dinner. So very stereotypical, they could have been drawn from a Stephen Sondheim musical.
Today Pedro et al have abandoned us for better offers. We still need to call in a washer technician to check out the sequence in each washing cycle, but we can do that next week. By attending the washer we can cancel the multiple rinses for which it has developed a fondness.
The dryer seems to be functioning normally, which means the technician managed to follow the pictures in the instructions for converting it from natural gas to LP which we have in SMA. And they figured out that the sensors needed to be reconnected so that the drum would turn. We had to tell them to connect the vent -- and show them how the metalicized exhaust hose expanded to reach from the machine to the vent in the wall. And for this they wanted $2600 mp! I think we were taken, particularly since we now need to bring in a repairman to check out the finer points of the washer.
Michael thinks that - if and when we move - we should leave the washer/dryer behind for the next tenant. Our landlord showed us the new home he was building next to his house. A bit small for us; otherwi se we might consider it.
Today we're getting clean water! Although the water pumped through the municipal system may start out pure, by the time it reaches a person's home it has had a chance to become contaminated. It's don't-drink-the-water time.
As a result, we use a fair amount of bottled water which is purchased in large garafons which are upended in a dispenser on the kitchen counter. Washing one's teeth occurs in the kitchen where it is safe to rinse one's mouth with the purified water. Showers are taken with one's mouth firmly closed, lest the water finds its way into your digestive system and acts up.
Most homes in Mexico have either a cistern and/or a large black plastic tinaco on the roof for holding water. The tinaco on the roof provides the water pressure for your home as well as stockpiles water if the municipal supply is interrupted. Our tinaco holds 750 liters or nearly 200 gallons. It was drained in anticipation of the person who would clean the sediment and whatever else is in there before refilling and adding the purification system.
Finding the correct valve that turned off the water to the house was an adventure itself, but suffice it to say we finally found the correct valve and let the excess water flow down the drain. The cleaner is here now emptying the rest of the water and any 'stuff' that had accumulated in the tinaco. I believe our landlord said that it had been cleaned 'recently,' but Michael (who is brave enough to climb up the ladder to our 4th floor roof) assures me that we're getting our money's worth hiring the cleaner.
Once it's ready to go, we'll turn the water back on and the cleaner will leave a plastic capsule in the tinaco that contains ceramic spheres which are treated with colloidal silver. The colloidal silver has antibacterial properties and makes our water supply safe and toxic-free for the whole house. 1 part silver to 10,000,000 parts water destroys all microbes without causing harm to man or other animals - more effectively than chlorine, I'm told. It's the same type of system used by NASA for water purification.
We've just now turned the water supply to the house back on and can hear the water refilling the roof reservoir. In about 3 hours the water should be purified and ready to go. We'll be able to wash our teeth in the bathroom instead of the kitchen near the garafon; the water the dogs drink from the toilets will not upset their stomachs; and we won't be constantly running to the local tienda for another garafon of pure water.
This is living!
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