Walking in the colourful and chaotic colonias!

Colourful and chaotic!  

Yesterday was hair day! My favourite stylist Amaranta Ancona Cervera plus her son, baby daughter, and hubby had recently moved to Izamal, an old colonial city near Mérida. 

She was back on the island for a quick visit and offered to cut and colour my fading, curly mess. I walked two blocks south, towards her abuelo and abuela’s casa, for my appointment.

Katy's Isla Retreats 

Walking to their house I passed Katy Hochmayr’s Isla Retreats, Dental Splash, Francisco’s Tapiceria Isla Mujeres (upholstery), the office of the orthopedic surgeon Doctor Jorge Ávila Barbosa, Karen Davis’ Hacienda B&B, Coco Jaguar Restaurant, La Chatita Restaurant, Delfino’s Clínica Veterinaria, Orlando’s golf cart repair service, my favourite fruit and veggie store owned by the Rivera-Lizama family, and the nighttime barbeque take-out place. 

Locals who saw me walking past, waved, shouted a greeting in Spanish, or stopped to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I love living in this friendly culture.

Clínica Veterinaria

Somewhere in this same block are a couple of butchers; one the specializes in pork, the other in fresh chickens. 

A little further on is a laundry service, a tortilla bakery, and multiple tiny stores that offer primarily snacks and beverages. The smells of soap, baking tortillas, and fresh produce are a tantalizing mix.

This neighbourhood is called Salina Chica, and it is crammed with small homes and even smaller businesses. For the most part these stores are around 10 feet by 10 feet in size, and stacked floor to ceiling with an eclectic mix of goods. 

Rivera-Lizama family store

Most of the businesses have owners’ residences or additional rental units attached either in the back or above the tienda. Their minuscule yards frequently contain noisy roosters and clucky hens, or an assortment of cats and dogs. 

In this neighbourhood people walk a few doors to buy their bread, tomatoes, onions, peppers, or tortillas from friends. Items are sold in small quantities to help people who have a limited amount of cash. We once saw a cute little girl buying one disposable diaper for her baby sister.

Isla Brewing - red building. Too far  away for Sparky!

Walking in the Mexican colonias is nostalgic for me. The neighbourhood reminds me of the European towns that Lawrie and I loved to explore, where everything was available within a few blocks. Now, if Isla Brewing was located in this area, life would be perfect, but alas it is further south necessitating a short golf cart ride.

Sure, I could easily manage the three blocks there and back but my almost-famous pooch Sparky would be severely displeased. In his world, he is to be included whenever possible. However, there are a number of dogs that live in and wander freely through this area. Some are noisy barkers or heel bitters. Some can be quite aggressive to a strange dog. And all of them are jealous of his star-status. Sparky prefers to ride in comfort and grin cheekily at the other dogs who don’t have their own personal golf cart and driver.

Karen's La Hacienda B&B 

On my way to get my hair fixed, I stopped at the Sayer paint store to buy a small container of patching compound to fill in a couple of dings in the walls. Short, strong guys moving heavy furniture don’t always see when a table leg is about to connect with the plaster wall. Then with my purchase in hand I continued along the street to Casa Wandy.

At the top of the stairs I was greeted by a cute little guy who looked about seven-years-old. He was tasked with watching for the gringa, to make sure she wouldn’t get lost trying to find Amaranta’s temporary location. Island friend Katie Cain was ahead of me, getting purdy, before her trip back to the US to visit family. Katie and I gossiped as Amaranta completed the assortment of nasty smelling, unattractive processes that women, and some men, suffer through on a regular basis. I was grateful that I knew Katie well enough to relax and forget how ridiculous I looked with my hair poking up in gloopy tufts.

More colour! 

While we were yakking, Amaranta reminded us that we should be conversing in Spanish to practice our language skills. I agreed, but also admitted that when I see a gringa's face, my brain can only remember English words. It’s a problem. I try to learn new words, and torture my Spanish-speaking friends with my mangled pronunciation but frequently a few days later the words have leaked out of my brain. When I was a high school student in Canada, French was mandatory because Canada is officially a bilingual country. However, after five years of studying I was no more fluent with French than I am now with my meager Spanish. It is what it is. I keep learning, and I keep forgetting.

Ninety minutes later I retraced my steps. When I arrived home, Sparky gave me a good sniff, checking for clues as to where I had been. With his terrific nose, I am certain he could have listed in sequential order all of the places that I walked past.

~

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