Veggies, Property Taxes, Utility Bills, Beatles & Other Random Stuff

Here comes another random blog.  I'll start with Veggies and wander from there.  I went to the local market to buy some groceries this morning.  This is the "Blue Market" a couple of miles from El Centro and it is where the locals go to purchase produce and meats.

Purple Sweat Potatoes, Jicama, Squash, Potatoes, White Onions, Red Pepper and Giant Carrots.

I walked through the dozens of produce vendors to pick the one with the best displays and freshest produce.  I began walking around her stand filling bags  and picking as I went.  I handed the whole stack to her and she weighed and counted up the total.  It came to 52 pesos.  That would be $2.88 for a whole grocery bag full of beautiful veggies.

Next I went to one of many chicken vendors.  I picked him because he spoke great English and I wanted to have a special order prepared.  He trimmed and prepared 9 breasts and packed them in 3 separate containers.  They were trimmed to perfection.  They came to a little over 2 kilos (4 1/2 pounds) and the price was 170 pesos ($9.44US).  $2.09US per pound seems a good price for the quality and service provided.

Fresh Croissants.

Next was the bakery for fresh croissants.  These melt in your mouth they are so lite and fluffy.  They cost 5.8 pesos each or 32 cents for us gringos.

So the real reason that I started this blog was that we received our annual property tax bill.  I thought you might be interested in knowing what the taxes are on a 3 bedroom/ 3 bathroom condo here at the Marina in Mazatlán.  4,289.51 pesos or $232.99 US at todays exchange rate. That's $19.42 per month.  That is the full price, if we applied for a temporary visa instead of our tourist visa our taxes would be half that figure.

While I'm at it I'll let you know what utilities cost here in Mazatlán last month.
  Natural Gas  (water heater and cooking)  -  196.79 pesos  -  $10.70 US
  Electric         (lights and air conditioning) -  467 pesos  -  $25.38 US
  Telmex         (internet and phone)             -  389 pesos  -  $21.14 US
  Shaw Cable  (Canadian TV Satellite)      -  350 pesos  -  $19.02 US
  HOA Fees    (Condo, water,  garbage      -  2550 pesos  -  $138.58 US
                       insurance & 9 employees)

Our $214.82 each month pays our expenses and we have a full time staff of nine employees that clean, guard, garden, care for and maintain our 91 unit condo complex.

So much for numbers.  Back to fun stuff.

Sargent Peppers Era

We went to see "HELP".  It was a 2 hour Beatles concert at the Opera House.  The band from South America had the Beatles music down perfect.  Paul even had a British accent.  It was as close to being back in the 60's as we could hope for. As the concert went along their costumes and appearances changed and progressed through the years.  It was another very good evening.

The Monigotes are ready for Carnaval.

Kings and Queens are being elected as Mazatlán prepares for a week of parties and parades.  The town will be full of visitors and a giant party that started over 100 years ago will continue its' tradition.

Eva enjoyed her time in the tide pools after her beach running time.  Lots of colorful fish swimming in the tide pools at Cerritos.

Water dog.

Life is Good and very laidback.