Since I’ve been to Cancun and Mexico several times, I’m kind of surprised when new things happen to me. But, something very new just happened. I needed to convert some dollars since I didn’t have enough pesos to buy food. Just around the corner from where I’m staying was a little shop, kinda like a 7-11, with a sign that shows the daily conversion rate of dollars to pesos. Google Translate said, "We take your dollars at 18.90"So, I went into the shop to make an exchange. My Spanish is good enough to understand that they don’t exchange money there. It isn’t good enough to understand why they post the daily exchange rates in their window when they don’t do that transaction. Mission Impossible. At this point in time, if I walked to the nearest exchange place that I knew, it would be dark by the time I did that business and then found a place to eat. It’s my habit in any city in the world to be in my room at night instead of walking on dark streets. It’s just so much safer that way, especially in a new city where I don’t have a mastery of the language. But, it’s safe to do anywhere. Fortunately, I had my credit card with me. I knew that the Burger King just across the street would accept my card. I don’t go to Burger King in America. There is one less than a block from my house. I don’t Whopper. But, I do eat and it was an unusual circumstance to say the least.
The meal combo number three was some kind of guacamole burger. That sounded interesting. In my limited Spanish, I successfully communicated that I wanted combo number three. What I didn’t successfully understand was when the girl behind the counter clarified the order. “Do you want three number three combos?” I only understood the number three.
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To add to the confusion, Combo 3 was labeled as Combo 2 outside the shop.
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“Si.” “Yes.” She rang it up and I passed over my credit card. Of course, she rang up what she clearly clarified. I don’t blame her in the slightest. But, I didn’t need three combo meals. And, I’m going to guess that no Whopper has a good shelf-life even if I have a refrigerator in my room. Very fortunately, the manager came to the rescue. She refunded me the entire amount in cash, so the credit card transaction still could go through. Then, from the cash that was refunded, I paid for one number three combo. The really good news out of this was that I got extra money in my pocket that would last me until I located a place to exchange money in the next day or two. The bad news? I’m not going to call it bad news. It’s just news that fits the entire way this adventure panned out. My burger had no trace of guacamole in it. I don’t know what it was that they served me, but I am fairly certain that it wasn’t combo number three. The only thing green in it was jalapeno peppers. It made for a glorious Whopper, but not what I had in mind. I don’t think I’ll ever have combo number three. Not only do I not plan on eating at Burger King when I can have authentic Mexican food, but I’m just a little too embarrassed to set foot in that place ever again.
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Having it my way, the next day, with some refried beans and Pibil pork. They don't say "¡Olé!" in Mexico, but "¡Olé!" anyway! It was so good!
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