May 2021 trip to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México

On Tuesday, May 25th I made my first trip back to México since 2019 when I came to stock up for my annual trip to the Chili Cook-off in Terlingua, Texas. The reason for my trip was to take Bonnie Mae to be spayed. You can read more about that by clicking on my header picture or going to my other blog Walter's World.

With my car issues, I had intended to spend the day in Ciudad Acuña until she was ready to be brought home and thus only make one trip. With that in mind, I headed to Plaza Bella which I believe has had a change of name since I was last here. This is the only mall in Acuña and houses Bodegas Aurrera (owned by Walmart), several banks, a movie theatre, as well as large and small stores.

I do not know if it is due to the pandemic but they have cut down on their supply of grocery carts here. It did not matter to me as I was just making time and had not planned on buying anything. Upon entering the store it was noticeable that the lights had been dimmed and it was dark.  It was also warm inside.

They had little to no pastries, bread, and just a few tortillas. Their shelves were being stocked and there were boxes everywhere.

$88.00 divided by 18 pesos = $4.89 USD
for a bottle of Kahlua

The last time I was here like I mentioned above was prior to my 2019 trip to Terlingua and I had unsuccessfully for the third time tried to purchase a bottle of Kahlua. Today I found one lonely bottle in the liquor aisle but since I am not drinking because of all the medication I am taking...it will have to wait for another customer...😢

I had already gone around the store once when I finally found a cart. Set off on my second round and this time decided to buy a jar of decaffeinated coffee, a box of hair dye (Nutrisse is made in México), and a bar of Zote soap.

$56.00 pesos = $3.11 USD

$41.80 = $2.32 USD

$6.60 = $.37 USD

I think I did well keeping my purchases
to a minimum

These were the exchange rates for today at most Exchange Houses. They will buy your American dollar at $18.00 pesos and they will sell you dollars for $19.50.  For our purpose, it is $18.00 pesos to one American dollar.

Monday night I only slept two hours and that morning I left the house without eating breakfast so I headed to the food court only to find them all closed except for one selling Chinese food. I don't like Chinese food so sat at a table. I kept on trying to doze off and again the mall was rather warm and I still had a long way to go until I could pick up Bonnie Mae so decided to come back home instead.

There was a long line at the Mexican tollbooths since they only had one open.

Hardly any traffic as I headed back to the USA

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Trip to see the Veterinarian in México

One of Blanca's three kittens who happens to be her mini-me developed an eye infection.  I went online and was treating it accordingly but her eye was so swollen I decided to seek professional help.  Just like medical attention is cheaper so are veterinarian services in Mexico.

I am so glad I still have the Pet Taxi I bought for the last cat I owned back in 1992, it has more than paid for itself both with the cat and puppy strays (Tammie's brood).  I went back to Clinica Veterinaria Chavarria where I took Oscar and tried unsuccessfully to take Tammie to have the porcupine quills removed. Here is the link to that post if you care to read it  http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/search?q=porcupine+needles

As I mentioned on my last Mexico trip post the toll to cross into Mexico has gone up to $4.00 USD.

I was seen right away and I figured that I would spend in the neighborhood of $25.00 or $30.00 USD for antibiotic shots to bring down the infection but the vet said his eye was gone and he had to be operated to have it removed and prevent the infection from spreading throughout his system. So what could I do?  I left him to be operated that same day where he would have to be monitored for 24 hours before I could bring him home.

While I had her there I told the vet that I wanted to have her fixed. The kittens turned 11 weeks old last Saturday. He informed me that "she" was a "he" and in México, they do not fix cats or puppies until they are six months of age...bummer!

Went to pick him up yesterday afternoon and my goodness the place was jammed packed!  I would say the majority were American clients.  He and his staff are bilingual so nothing is lost in the translation.

Since he turned out to be a boy I changed his name to Paquito for his official paperwork. The vet showed me how to administer his medication and told me that he had to be kept indoors even if it was inside his Pet Taxi to prevent further complications. He ended banging up his nose against the door of the Pet Taxi wanting to get out.

The one I feel sorry for is Blanca she looked for him everywhere the day I took him and this morning I know she heard him crying as he was rather loud and probably wanted his momma.  He cried on and off last night but I was so tired, he really did not bother me.

Momma cat Blanca with Paquito her mini-me

Needless to say with an operation involved, medication and his kitty shots it ended costing me more than I originally budgeted for but at least my one-eyed cat will live a long and happy life.

My one-eyed Jack...Paquito :)

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.