Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Still no money!
We went back to Marco Polo for breakfast. Delicious as usual. Blair had pancakes, and I had huevos rancheros. Mariana joined us mid-way. Karen was still snoozing. We told Mariana we were fortifying ourselves before heading back to Banamex.
Blair said that he felt optimistic about us getting our transfer. He thought that the banks would have posted the transaction during the night, and the money would be waiting for us. It was not to be. Our buddy at the bank took our information again, and he had us sit in the lobby. After about 15 minutes, he called us up to the counter and said the money hadn't arrived. I asked him if it was possible to call their headquarters (casa central) in Mexico City to see why. He gave us a blank stare, like "Why would you want to do that?" After more punching in numbers on his computer, one of the bank tellers opened up an address book she had in a drawer and gave him a number. They finally called Mexico City, but they had to call about five different numbers to find out who to talk to. Finally, he was given some sort of code to punch in, and the teller said, "Ya esta. (There it is.)" I wanted to kiss her. She printed out the screen that showed the wire transfer had occurred. However, the message "under investigation" appeared by Blair's name and Frost National Bank. The head teller called back to Mexico City, and they said that they were going to send the money back to San Antonio. I asked him why. He said, "Falta la clave (It didn't have a code.)" I wanted to cry. He asked us if we had family members who could wire us money through Western Union. We shook his hand, thanked him for his trouble, left the bank and went back to the hotel. Karen was there, and we told her what had happened and that we were going to e-mail Frost Bank to tell them what had happened. Karen, now known as the Bank of Karen, gave us more money to stay afloat. We are fortunate to have friends here who can bail us out. If worse came to worst, we could do a cash advance on our credit card, but no telling what that interest rate would be. Anyway, we decided we'd spent enough time chasing money and it was time to get to know Oaxaca.
One of our first stops was the Cafe La Nueva Babel, one that Jill, the filmmaker, recommended. Cool place. Lots of art in support of the teachers' movement. We'll definitely go back for lunch and dinner. They have either live music or poetry readings each night. From there, we walked over to the Mercado de Artesanias, a shop with a wide variety of local pottery, tin, weaving, etc. My favorite piece was a Mama pig with six baby pigs (three on each side) enjoying her milk. I'm so happy we visited the villages where the artworks are made. I have a much greater appreciation after seeing the variety at Stan's home and in the villages. We found out that the Mercado is hosting traditional dances there each night at 6:30, so we'll be going back.
We stumbled into a lunchplace called La Tentacion on Matamoros, #101. For 35 pesos, approximately $3, we had black bean soup, pork ribs, salad, corn tortillas, orange juice and jello. Good and filling. (And perfect for our budget!) On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, they have a live band (salsa, merengue, etc.) in their club next door that starts at 10 p.m. From there, we walked over to El Centro Cultural de Santo Domingo. (On the way, I took a picture of a frame shop that had Benito Juarez and Marilyn Monroe prominently displayed.) As Blair said, the Centro Cultural is spectacular. It reminded us of El Museo de Las Americas in Madrid, only better. The building itself is worth the price of admission (45 pesos). The views from the many window are gorgeous. Each room is filled with a certain period of Oaxaca's (and Mexico's) history. Do NOT miss this place if you are in town. As we were leaving the Centro, an anti-Bush demonstration was beginning to take place. He's in Mexico visiting with the new president here. Signs with "Bush: No bienvenidos!" and such were being hung on buildings. Although I share their sentiment, I've had my fill of Oaxacan demonstrations (see June 14's entry), so we moved on.
After several hours of walking non-stop, we were pooped, so we walked over to another of Jill's recommendations. This place is called Las Cuiles, and it's on Abasolo. Melissa and Mila happened to be there, enjoying the free wireless. Blair and I ordered coffee. The best yet. Cool mission tile floors and great art. We'll definitely be going back. From there, we walked back to the hotel. Just as we got in, it started pouring rain for quite a while. We decided to skip the regional dance until tomorrow night. Mary and Dan arrived wet but happy. They'd run into Eloy and hired him to take them around for the day. Gail joined them. After the rain lightened up a bit, Blair and I walked to a bakery down Independencia, away from the zocalo, called Panificadora La Luna. Huge selection. Very delicious. Much better than the bakery around the corner from the hotel. Very reasonable prices. We stood outside the bakery and ate our pasteries. Good thing. Just as we were leaving, a woman arrived with two big containers of homemade tamales. Blair got rajas (peppers), I got frijol (black bean), and we split a dulce (sweet). All for 18 pesos! We've found our dinner spot for the next three nights!
All in all, a great day, despite our banking travails. Tomorrow, we'll be exploring and uncovering the treasures of Oaxaca even more.
Blair said that he felt optimistic about us getting our transfer. He thought that the banks would have posted the transaction during the night, and the money would be waiting for us. It was not to be. Our buddy at the bank took our information again, and he had us sit in the lobby. After about 15 minutes, he called us up to the counter and said the money hadn't arrived. I asked him if it was possible to call their headquarters (casa central) in Mexico City to see why. He gave us a blank stare, like "Why would you want to do that?" After more punching in numbers on his computer, one of the bank tellers opened up an address book she had in a drawer and gave him a number. They finally called Mexico City, but they had to call about five different numbers to find out who to talk to. Finally, he was given some sort of code to punch in, and the teller said, "Ya esta. (There it is.)" I wanted to kiss her. She printed out the screen that showed the wire transfer had occurred. However, the message "under investigation" appeared by Blair's name and Frost National Bank. The head teller called back to Mexico City, and they said that they were going to send the money back to San Antonio. I asked him why. He said, "Falta la clave (It didn't have a code.)" I wanted to cry. He asked us if we had family members who could wire us money through Western Union. We shook his hand, thanked him for his trouble, left the bank and went back to the hotel. Karen was there, and we told her what had happened and that we were going to e-mail Frost Bank to tell them what had happened. Karen, now known as the Bank of Karen, gave us more money to stay afloat. We are fortunate to have friends here who can bail us out. If worse came to worst, we could do a cash advance on our credit card, but no telling what that interest rate would be. Anyway, we decided we'd spent enough time chasing money and it was time to get to know Oaxaca.
One of our first stops was the Cafe La Nueva Babel, one that Jill, the filmmaker, recommended. Cool place. Lots of art in support of the teachers' movement. We'll definitely go back for lunch and dinner. They have either live music or poetry readings each night. From there, we walked over to the Mercado de Artesanias, a shop with a wide variety of local pottery, tin, weaving, etc. My favorite piece was a Mama pig with six baby pigs (three on each side) enjoying her milk. I'm so happy we visited the villages where the artworks are made. I have a much greater appreciation after seeing the variety at Stan's home and in the villages. We found out that the Mercado is hosting traditional dances there each night at 6:30, so we'll be going back.
We stumbled into a lunchplace called La Tentacion on Matamoros, #101. For 35 pesos, approximately $3, we had black bean soup, pork ribs, salad, corn tortillas, orange juice and jello. Good and filling. (And perfect for our budget!) On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, they have a live band (salsa, merengue, etc.) in their club next door that starts at 10 p.m. From there, we walked over to El Centro Cultural de Santo Domingo. (On the way, I took a picture of a frame shop that had Benito Juarez and Marilyn Monroe prominently displayed.) As Blair said, the Centro Cultural is spectacular. It reminded us of El Museo de Las Americas in Madrid, only better. The building itself is worth the price of admission (45 pesos). The views from the many window are gorgeous. Each room is filled with a certain period of Oaxaca's (and Mexico's) history. Do NOT miss this place if you are in town. As we were leaving the Centro, an anti-Bush demonstration was beginning to take place. He's in Mexico visiting with the new president here. Signs with "Bush: No bienvenidos!" and such were being hung on buildings. Although I share their sentiment, I've had my fill of Oaxacan demonstrations (see June 14's entry), so we moved on.
After several hours of walking non-stop, we were pooped, so we walked over to another of Jill's recommendations. This place is called Las Cuiles, and it's on Abasolo. Melissa and Mila happened to be there, enjoying the free wireless. Blair and I ordered coffee. The best yet. Cool mission tile floors and great art. We'll definitely be going back. From there, we walked back to the hotel. Just as we got in, it started pouring rain for quite a while. We decided to skip the regional dance until tomorrow night. Mary and Dan arrived wet but happy. They'd run into Eloy and hired him to take them around for the day. Gail joined them. After the rain lightened up a bit, Blair and I walked to a bakery down Independencia, away from the zocalo, called Panificadora La Luna. Huge selection. Very delicious. Much better than the bakery around the corner from the hotel. Very reasonable prices. We stood outside the bakery and ate our pasteries. Good thing. Just as we were leaving, a woman arrived with two big containers of homemade tamales. Blair got rajas (peppers), I got frijol (black bean), and we split a dulce (sweet). All for 18 pesos! We've found our dinner spot for the next three nights!
All in all, a great day, despite our banking travails. Tomorrow, we'll be exploring and uncovering the treasures of Oaxaca even more.
Labels: banks, Centro Cultural de Santo Domingo, Oaxaca
