It’s been an interesting day.  Aaron had a super early Steering Committee meeting that he was chairing first thing, so our routine this week of breakfast together, he goes to the plant, I go for a swim, was tossed today.  My shoulder was a bit sore from throwing myself into the swimming thing – a direct symptom of previous swim withdrawal, and as such I could not resist the call of the stunning pool on the 15th floor! So today I got up and walked…and walked…and walked…to nowhere in particular, on the treadmill.  Was a much longer walk than I’d anticipated as the treadmill had other plans for what I had expected to be a smooth, straighforward experience. I start what I think is a program as the display is in Spanish (green button for go, red button for stop, pretty universal) then in reaching to plug in my ear buds I swipe the screen and my track abruptly stops.   I try that green button again and I get to go for a little while til I bump the display reaching for my water and jerk to a stop.  Wasn’t too gentle either, a little bit like learning to drive standard. Pushing another button makes the track start to fly, so whoa, have to bring that back, then the one opposite sets me instantly climbing a mountain – the touch sensitivity was unexpected and so was the resulting speed and incline.  This went on for a while, but thankfully the universe was watching over me and keeping all other’s who might be “inclined” to work out this morning, away!

After fumbling with instructions for the laundry lady,  (here I am learning that “I’ll be right there” is a phrase very much left up to individual interpretation… after about three calls to the desk – is someone coming? or do I just leave it in the room? when is someone coming?)  I decide I can finally get in the shower… no sooner do I turn it off, then a “knock-knock” comes at the door. “Are you kidding?!?” I grumble as I scramble for a robe, answer the door and quickly make the transfer.  Aaron is here for another week and will make a much better impression wearing clean clothes.

I eat breakfast with a woman from Detroit who has been here for a year and a half with her husband for work – they had some pretty scary electrical issues with their first house (Indeed having a dishwasher that sets the kitchen on fire and a power surge that bursts all lights in the house ranks as serious) so they moved out a month and a half ago to find something else and have been living in this posh hotel – we joked about how we’re living in this (smoggy!) bubble and that going back to (for her) and starting (for me) living real life here won’t be for the faint of heart!  I did feel buoyed when she expressed how much she loves living here.

The smog is going to take some getting used to.   When I wonder about it, my new acquaintance assures me that it is usually more sunny than smoggy; apparently this week has been noticeably bad.  Thankfully we found a lovely house in Interlomas that backs onto federal reserve green space, which is much further from the city centre and further into the mountains – the air there is so much clearer than here in Santa Fe.  Although this morning it was clear and you could see the beautiful view of the mountains all around Santa Fe, but by end of day a thick smog had settled.  Unreal the impact of emissions from the many millions of cars in just one day.  I’ve heard that strides are being made to reduce it, but not there yet, that’s for sure.

Today’s blunder is brought to you by 200 pesos for all-you-can-eat/drink-Tacos, Tequila and Cerveza (beer).   After working for a while on organizing photos in the lounge, I decided to go for a diva swim (no real exertion and the hair stays dry).  Today is the first sunny, warm day all week as it’s been mostly cloudy, cool and rainy.  I go back to the room, change and head up to the 15th floor.  It’s lovely and quiet and I have the entire pool and deck to myself (see above)!  The water is crystalline and warm and I’m in my own little paradise.  And the hot tub is finally fixed!!  I swim for a bit, then hop into the hot tub, and no sooner do I do than a swarm of people, mostly corporate Mexican men in suits, begin pouring into the lounge/bar that is attached to the pool deck.  The music starts to pound like a night club (not that I have a lot of experience with that, but they’re kickin’ it up there!), and the pool deck is now teeming with corporate Mexican men in suits taking their corporate calls and making trips back to their tables for a bite and a sip (Tequila is actually a sipping drink, FYI).  Now my relaxing, zone-out swim has become a shades on, darting eyes, think-of-a-smooth-strategy-for-exiting-the-pool-quickly kind of swim.   Of course, my towel and cover-up are way too far away for my liking at this point.  Was a bit of a prune by the time I spied a window of opportunity to flee, dripping, back to my room…Once back upstairs in the 9th floor lounge, my hide out while the camarista (maid) tidied the room (she’s pretty cute – leaves us long notes everyday thanking us for her tip – it’s good practice deciphering them!), I asked what was happening on the 15th floor.  That’s when I learned my beautiful swim had been thwarted by 200 pesos (about $20 cdn) all-you-can-eat/drink TTC Friday’s.  Can’t compete with that!