Nothing seems to be working for me. I am starting to think this stove is cursed:
I moved to Mexico in 2001 and I have been looking for a gas stove with an interior top broiler, ever since.
We live in an unsophisticated/rural area and the local appliances stores do not have such a product in stock. I researched the model and special ordered it. Paid a deposit, waited for weeks with several trips in and out of town…The stove never showed up. I got the money back from the deposit and decided to try another shop in another town Petatlan, about half an hour drive south from us. They also made the same promise, “we can order it for you, but it will take a while”. I decided to buy something they had in stock. It did not have an interior broiler but I could broil from the bottom drawer. That means you have to take the food out of the oven, kneel down and introduce the pan in the bottom drawer, where the burner of the oven serves as the top grill.. After a few months I had a little problem with the electrical ignition and called the shop for sending a tecnico. They promised to send a person in two days. Meantime I could still use my old little stove.
A week later my husband and I decided to pay a visit to Petatlan again to see what was going on. There is a lovely farmers market there and we could do some shopping as well.
The sales attendant of the furniture shop, a sturdy middle-age lady, said, “I have a stove just like the one you wanted. It is a used one and it belongs to a friend of mine that left town and she is selling her furniture. I can show it to you. It’s just around the corner”.
So off we go, out in hot blazing noon sun, crossing the zócalo, to her lady friend house.
When I saw the stove and looked inside the never once used oven, I could not believe it.
There it was: the stove I always wanted, sitting in a lady’s house who probably did not even know what she had.. She stated the price. I counter offered mine and she said she would consult her friend and let me know.
I came home, researched that particular brand and model on line and found out the price she was asking was exactly half of the retail price listed. The stove had been hardly used. It looked brand new. I was so excited over this stove that my husband said to me, “If there is one person who deserves that stove, you are it. With all the money you have been saving us, by not going out to restaurants, you can have all the stoves you want. I’ll by it for you for your birthday.
The lady never called back to let me know if her friend was willing to lower the price. We decided to return to Petatlan to get it.Walking from the shop to the lady’s house I asked the sturdy lady why her friend was leaving town. Her answer was chilling, even though it was sunny and hot, “they came and shot to death her three boys and took the girl.” I did not dare to ask who “they” were.
We paid for the stove and quickly returned home. Yes, it is true there are drug gangs shooting people who are equally involved in the same trade. I don’t think “they” will come looking for the stove.
