Life on the Streets....they're happening places in a tropical town

 

I spend a lot of my time walking the streets of Zihuatanejo...or at least the areas closest to our home in the Colonia La Madera, and in the downtown areas.  I also spend a lot of my life walking in Victoria, our other home; and it is the differences between walks that strikes me as one of the most significant differences in our two homes. 

 

Early morning, I head out down Calle Adelita, the main street in my neighborhood to check out the sights.  I can count on seeing Dona Chechna, the elderly matriarch of one of our neighborhood families nurturing her garden, which grows on "common property"...but is a delight to all of us who make our way past and over the bridge into town.   The cheerful Papele picado flags which were put up at Xmas will wave in the breezes until next summers storms take them down...or a passing tour bus gets caught and pulls them down.

 

Sometimes our neighborhood is a political place.  Recently the residents decided to show their displeasure with the local administration over the lack of water delivery via city pipes.  Since the big hurricane Manuel, many of Zihuatanejo's residents have had no city water supply, despite receiving regular water department bills.  They arrange for their own water delivery via water tanker trucks called Pipa's which grind through the streets of the city carrying megaloads of water to fill cisterns.  My neighbours decided to stage this very visible protest and apparently it worked, or at least it sort of worked.  Within 24 hours, we heard water flowing through the drains in the neighborhood...will it last..who knows...but I was proud to see our normally very accepting Mexican neighbours become political for such a good cause. 


Mornings are spent shopping for our daily food purchases...  This year there is a new enterprise in town...on Saturday mornings, the "Ecotianguis Sanka" are a fun place to have coffee and visit with friends...including my local go-to expert on Guatemala, Linda.  She's set me up for a great trip coming up this month. 



I buy my coffee at the local men's hangout.  Inside the bustling little shop, cappuccino's and latte's are made at rapid speed, but it's the guys out front who I love to say "hola Buenos dias" to...as they look at the gringa with her little white dog who walks everywhere! 


Most evenings we walk downtown.  Unlike our suburban location in Canada, we are ideally situated an easy and relaxing 10 min. stroll from the action of Zihua central.  The photographs show you how our last Saturday evening unfolded....

We had heard that a group of young people were playing some great 60's Rock and Roll on the street.  A crowd gathered as these talented Mexican youth funded by some sort of government initiative set up and then delivered some of the best tunes of my youth.  The really interesting part for me, was that none of them spoke English, but they had memorized and delivered tunes flawlessly imitating some of the best bands.  They were great. 

Further down the street, in Zihua's local version of a zocalo, our "cancha municipal"...children were painting ceramics to take home   and the local men's teams were playing some very competitive ball while the local "gypsy" groups danced with fire nearby. 

 

Watching the world of Zihua from the streets is one of our favorite past times...and back in Canada where our streets are empty and our homes are huge, we can't help but ask...which is better...a huge home full of comfort that keeps you inside...or modest homes and a chance to be outside 24 hours/day 365 days/year....Ok...well not in the tropical storms, but other than that...this is where our world is!  Now off to begin mine with this view on my way to yoga!