Sometimes a last minute invite can be a fun one!

Late this Wednesday afternoon, Lawrie just happened to check his emails and discovered a message from Marla Bainbridge Martinez asking if we would consider helping out as bartenders at a fundraiser starting at four in the afternoon.

I heaved a sigh and stared longingly at my just-poured glass of Malbec wine. Our afternoon plans had included reading a book on the ocean-side patio, with a glass of wine in hand. 

But it was a fundraiser put on by a group of island friends and businesspeople in support of a badly injured islander. Julio Zapata had recently been in a horrific motorcycle accident in the nearby City of Mérida. Julio has two young children and a third on the way. He is facing large medical bills for multiple surgical operations.

We couldn’t say no. It’s what people in small communities do – help out. Lawrie and I scrambled to get to the fundraiser for the four o’clock start time.

Navy truck. Providing an armed escort for the ice?

Driving to the venue at the Casa de la Culture via Guerrero Avenue, we trailed behind a golf cart, loaded with bags of ice. 

Just ahead of the golf cart was an armed escort in the form of a truckload of Navy marines. Presumably protecting against the threat of ice-bandits?

Lawrie, Fernanda are all set to sell beer and drinks

At the ocean-side esplanade for the Casa de la Culture, busy hands were in the process of setting up the venue. Lights and sound systems installed. Band instruments unpacked. Beer was organized in the cooler and covered with the precious ice. Bid pages were arranged for silent auction items donated by several island businesses. And then our favourite beer dispensers arrived: Isla Brewing.

La Banda Sin Nombre

Okay, we’re good to go! Now let’s hear some tunes from La Banda Sin Nombre, the Band with No Name!

The crowd was small but very generous in their donations. Thanks to everyone for helping out. Here’s a copy of Marla’s list of contributors: hopefully, no one has been left out.

Javi's Cantina Restaurant Tapas Bar, Bobo's Grill & Bar, Isla Mujeres Bar Card, El Arrecife, Parque de los Sueños, Restaurant Asia Caribe, CARM Tours & Transfers, The Joint Reggae Bar & Grill, El Patio house of music, Gigi Kraycar, Nirit Ben David, Olivia Tastes from the Mediterranean, Catrina Restaurant, BE Wings Restaurant, Nisa Disco, and Michael (no last name given).

Aida bidding on an auction item

La Banda Sin Nombre y Deejay Dani for the tunes. Cheryl Gabel and Kevin Gabel for running the auction. Isla Brewing Company - Cerveza Isla. Emilio Fernando Sosa Delgado and Martin Burgos for setting up. Jason Williams and Fernanda.

Some of the silent auction winners include: Mark and Monica Macpherson, Sandra Murray, Tomas Christianson, Terri Huff, Dede Clark, Aida, and Patricio Yam.

Barbara Beck, Chris Shannon, Jimmy Picuri

Between the beer sales, the silent auction items, and an earlier GoFundMe campaign, the group efforts have brought in about 41,000 pesos of the 70,000 pesos needed to pay for the operations. It’s a great start! Donations are still gratefully accepted. Contact Marla at Javi’s Cantina for details.

The weather was perfect, the music enjoyable, and the crowd was happy.

Thank you, everyone, for your generosity.

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas the Cat

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Or

Death in the Vineyards

Funny things that are so very ‘Isla’ Unfinished government projects!

Living in a foreign country can be downright comical at times, and doubly so when living on a small island off the eastern coast of Mexico.

At the southern end of Isla Mujeres, there is a security wall with shards of broken glass cemented into the upper edge. The wall protects an almost empty piece of land, a replica of a Mayan ruin, and a collection of derelict boats.

Three-sided glass-topped security wall

Recently a squatter decided to set up housekeeping inside the windowless concrete shack. The property owner, rightly so, had the person evicted and the street-side entrance bricked over. Then shards of glass were added to the top of the wall as a further deterrent to trespassers. 

Because of the sharp embedded bits, the iguanas lost a handy spot for sunbathing, and the birds had to find other places to rest, but other than that, not much has changed. Strangely, the wall only provides security to three sides of the property.  

The Tower - at the refuse transfer station

Another source of amusement is located inside the municipal refuse transfer station, also near the southern end of the island. 

A large concrete structure was built in the early spring of 2013 under the direction of then Presidente Hugo Sanchez. The three-story high edifice is imposing. 

It towers over the empty building located directly behind it. We’ve never figured out the purpose of the fortification, but it now has a veritable garden of plants sprouting on several levels.

Hacienda Mundaca - new, unused entrance

Then on the western side of the island is the beautiful new entrance to the federally controlled Hacienda Mundaca, the historic home of the island’s most well-known pirate, Captain Fermin Mundaca. 

From the fall of 2014 to the spring of 2015, construction crews slashed a path in the jungle and erected a tall concrete block wall to surround the estate. 

Stone-faced sign for new entrance

Their final job was to create the stunningly beautiful new entrance with two soaring hacienda-style gates, a decorative iron fence, and a stage for community performances. 

Well-signed and ready to go, the new entrance still remains closed and idle, a repository for wind-blown litter.

Part of the sewer line project 

And another head-shaking bit of island trivia. In 2014, the municipality contracted to have Rueda Medina re-paved on the western side of the airport from about the naval base to the Coca-Cola plant. 

Several business owners in the area petitioned the city to work in conjunction with the water/waste corporation, Aguakan, to install sewer lines before paving the road. Good idea. Very forward-thinking of the business folks who struggled in the busy tourist winter season with almost daily pump-outs of their wastewater holding tanks. The companies ante-upped the fees to Aguakan for the new sewer lines, and the project got underway. The road was dug up, lines installed, and detours around the work changed daily. 

It was a huge project that lasted for months, creating a financial hardship for several companies located along that piece of road. However, the consensus was that in the end it would be well worth it. Except, the sewer lines have never been connected. The school, homes, and businesses must still have their holding tanks regularly pumped.

Rueda Medina the 2010-2011 project

But the biggest ‘oops’ that provided hours of entertaining speculation is the construction project that began in the fall of 2010 and continued for at least eighteen months, if not longer. 

The multi-level proposal aimed to beautify Rueda Medina, the main entrance to the island, to impress the arriving visitors. To that end, underground wiring was planned for all of the homes and businesses along Rueda Medina from the corner by the Aluxes Hotel to the car ferry terminal. The existing rough pavement was to be replaced with attractive stamped concrete. And to prevent unnecessary flooding during rainstorms, large drains would be installed at regular intervals along the street. Well, the contractors did lay the pretty new stamped concrete surface for the road.  

Paradise

Mexico has been our beautiful and charming home country for several years.  Sometimes, it can be very entertaining, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Hasta luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

Murder and mayhem. Revenge and romance. 

Join the adventure today. 

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Or

Death in the Vineyards

Javi’s Cantina ‘Where Flavor Meets Harmony’

Music, good food, and cold drinks! 

Cool new sign

What a great way to spend a Wednesday evening in paradise.  

Marla Bainbridge Martinez and Javier Martinez recently held the grand opening event at Javi’s Cantina & Tapas Bar, located in Centro on Juarez near Abasolo Avenue. 

Their eatery commenced operation in July of this year, but they wanted to ensure everything was organized and ticking along perfectly before the grand opening.  

The several times we have eaten at Javi’s, we have had a beautifully presented and tasty meal. Practice does make perfect.

Lawrie's favourite - Sliders

The grand opening started with a blessing from the priest, and continued into the evening with fun, laughter, and music. 

Until the flashy new sign was installed, the cantina was difficult to find.

If you are still having challenges, it is almost directly across the street from Jeri Roozeboom Mattox and Steve Mattox’s rental property La Vida Dulce, and the Farmacia y Consultorio Similares, otherwise known as Doctor Simi.

Grand Opening

Javi’s Cantina is an intimate and thankfully air-conditioned space, usually holding about thirty patrons, but for this evening, they had permission to block off the street and spill out onto the cobblestone roadway.  

It’s an island custom for important events, especially funerals, when the large extended families can’t all fit inside the diminutive houses. Javi’s family has been on the island for generations, which probably helped in obtaining a street closure permit. We are glad he did; the large turnout created a festive atmosphere with an entertaining mix of old friends and new acquaintances, all laughing and enjoying the warm tropical night.  And yes, our shivering northern friends, it was a warm tropical night in the middle of November.

Marla singing with the band

The street tables were available for patrons who wanted to drink adult beverages and enjoy the music of La Banda Sin Nombre, the Band with No Name. 

The inside tables were reservations-only for folks who wanted to scarf down some great chow like Sliders, Kabobs, or the Catch of the Day with their drinks.

Some of the menu choices

Most evenings at Javi’s Cantina, musicians are playing great tunes in Spanish and English. 

Tuesday night’s Hammock for 2 with Marla and Javi singing their favourite songs. 

Wednesday night, Jorge Santoyo. Thursday night, Willy Chacon.

Other nights might feature Javi and his dad Toso, or any combination of friends and fellow musicians. 

Grand opening

For the Grand Opening, we had made plans to enjoy the festivities with two island friends, and then discovered two more amigos were going to be seated next to us, so we pushed the tables together and became one big happy group. 

It’s times like these that we really appreciate island life, small communities, and upbeat positive chums.

Best wishes for a successful adventure, Marla and Javi.

Cheers,

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas the Cat

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Or 

Death in the Vineyards

Animas Festival: the Parade of Silence, Dia de Los Muertos

Ghostly brides. Half-faced children. Phantom cowboys.  Gentlemen apparitions in formal wear.  

Ladies in flower bedecked headdresses and jeweled Catrina makeup all gathered in Centro for a relatively new event on Isla Mujeres, the Parade of Silence, paying tribute to the souls of the departed.

Ru Perez Director Casa de la Cultura, on right

Organized by the Casa de la Cultura and the Jean Piaget private school, the procession was scheduled to start at six in the evening at the old cemetery located at the north end of Hidalgo Avenue, culminating at the Casa de la Cultura on Guerrero Avenue.  

Six o’clock Mexican time: más o menos.  In this case, the event was surprisingly not too far off schedule, starting at six-thirty.  

A group from our neighbourhood agreed we would meet downtown, watch the parade, and then go out for a light dinner. 

It should be easy for seven people to meet up on a five-mile-long island…wouldn’t you think?  

However, by the time I had snapped nearly a hundred photographs and the procession had passed us by, we realized that four of our friends had still not arrived.  

We did see several other well-known locals who were enjoying the spectacle, relaxing street-side in the various bars and restaurants that line Hidalgo Avenue.

Lawrie and his sister Linda decided that they would head to The Reef, where the group had planned to pop in for a drink with our favourite island bar-tender, Freddy Medina.

In the meantime, I scouted around Hidalgo Avenue for the others. 

It turns out they waited twenty minutes for a taxi, not wanting to risk the new Breathalyzer sobriety roadblocks that were initiated a week ago.  

For those of you unfamiliar with life in Mexico, drunk driving has been tolerated until very recently. Open liquor in vehicles, on golf carts, or even motos – no problem.  

A few times, we have witnessed motor scooter drivers so bombed that when required to stop for traffic or pedestrian crosswalks, they forget to put their feet on the ground. The result is a comical slow-motion toppling of the driver and the motorcycle into a heap on the hard pavement, in one case conveniently beside a police officer. 

The Breathalyzer sobriety checks are a step in the right direction; however, according to the island coconut-telegraph, the testers are re-using the same plastic ‘straw’ for every person.  It’s a very unsanitary practice, to say the least.  Hopefully, this is just a rumour.

Ashley Blogin

But I digress, Julie, Rob, Brent and Dé were about to start hoofing it into Centro when an available taxi finally arrived.  Having rounded up the strays, we trailed after the procession, heading in the direction of the Municipal Square and The Reef Bar at the south end of Hidalgo Avenue.  

The colourful, but quiet group slowly wound its way between the tables and chairs pushed out into the street by restaurant managers trying to maximize every possible square inch of serving space. 

Hidalgo Avenue has a fun, chaotic atmosphere with cramped spaces, colourful tables and chairs, wait-staff hawking menu choices, and the delicious smells wafting from open-air kitchens.

The Parade of Silence continued a few more blocks, culminating at the Casa de la Cultura.  We turned a sharp left and up the stairs into The Reef for an adult beverage.  We finished up our fun evening with a yummy dinner at Javi’s Cantina on Juarez Avenue.  The beautiful live background music was provided by Jorge and Martine.

  

Jorge with Javi on drums

We are already anticipating the procession of the souls next year.  Sometimes life in paradise is just so darn difficult.

Cheers

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

Julie and Linda G. with their new friend

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Or

Death in the Vineyards