Day One

The last two days in Toronto were a flurry of packing, moving stuff back to my Dad's basement, saying goodbye and trying to fit everything left behind into my suitcase. For the first time, I actually unzipped it to use the extra few inches allowed by my expandable Samsonsite. The cost was brutal! At $7 extra per kilo, I was 30 kilos overweight. You do the math ... thank the Goddess my airfare was cheap! Why do I need so much stuff? I thought I was downsizing ... *sigh* ... time to go through it once more to cull out the old clothes and give them to the Refugio.

So as a result of my late arrival at the airport (2 hours before boarding), I got stuck in row 25 in a plane with 30 rows. Fortunately for me, the wife of the gentleman sitting beside me was sitting in row 1 and asked to switch with me. How lucky am I? I think I was the third person to deplane. As is my practice, I started chatting with the woman sitting across the aisle from me. Maureen is travelling alone and promised to call me so that we can get together sometime in the next two weeks while she is here. Of course, she wants to do what I'm doing so I have a feeling my brain is about to be "picked" -- hope it isn't too painful! LOL

My friends Jeff and Kathy took the bus out to the airport to meet me. The flight was 40 minutes early getting in and I got the "green light" again. Woo hoo! Twenty minutes later, I was walking through the gates of Casa Andrea ... too easy! There are four dogs living here with Adan, Andrea's major domo. He is staying with them in Andrea's apartment and I am staying in Unit #3. We are the only two staying here right now. It is just before the busy season so I don't expect it to be quiet for long! The weather is hot but not as hot as I expected. There was a nice cool breeze this morning and it was cloudy. The sun came out this afternoon. It is now 5:34PM; I've been here for 6.5 hours and I've already had two showers and three dips in the pool. Wonder what I will do when it gets really hot? LOL

Jeff, Kathy and I headed to the Burros Bar for lunch. Two beers, chicken nachos and a couple of salads later, I started unwinding. We actually saw dolphins jumping in the Bay which was a treat for all of us. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Que?Pasa tonight. I took the bus up to the Scotiabank and withdrew some pesos. I got a message about the service charge. I read it to say $7.50 + $3.00 MXP but I'm sure it will come out in $US. I will let you know. Guess I will have to start working soon so as to minimize my trips to the banking machine. FYI, the exchange rate for $CDN was 8.65 at the Bank. I stopped at Rizo's on the way home and bought some drinks, limes and bananas. I have a 3/4 size fridge, purified water and a kitchenette here. It is very cozy and I am already feeling at home. In many ways, it feels like I never left.