“Living
in Mexico is all about patience,” Tiffany Yenawine-Wareing
philosophically wrote on her social media page, “things happen when
they happen.”
You can almost hear the exasperation in her typed
words.
Tiffany
was referring to the road construction and daily changes to the
intricate detour routes that allow access to the middle section of Rueda Medina, the main north-south route on Isla Mujeres. She and
husband, Brad Wareing manage the Marina Paraiso
hotel/marina/restaurant/dive shop complex located behind the detour
barricades.
Rueda
Medina is the route that gives customers access to at least eight
other restaurants, a handful of bars, several hotels, four marinas,
the cement plant, the building supply store, the middle school, a
pharmacy, the one and only auto parts store, plus hundreds of homes
that are located on the west side of the island between the car ferry
and the Chedraui Super Store.
 |
| October in front of the Soggy Peso Bar & Grill. |
The
repaving project started in early October and was to be finished
within two months. In the meantime, a group of business owners met
with the municipality and asked if a sewer line was being installed
at the same time.
They were told there were no plans for a sewer in
that area for the next few years. Then the business owners met with
Aguakan, the water/sewer provider and asked, “Why not? The road is
already torn up, why not do it now, not in a year or two from now and
repeat this whole painful process?”
Why
not indeed.
 |
| November, a bit south of Marina Paraiso |
Eventually, with a lot of managerial scrambling, the budget was allocated to
upgrade the water lines and install a sewer.
For those of you who
have never been to Isla, you probably can't figure out what the big
deal is.
Perhaps you have noticed in your travels through Mexico signs that say: Please do NOT flush the toilet paper! Place it in the waste basket provided.
That is because most homes and businesses operate on holding tanks,
not sewers. The extra paper waste in the holding tank creates a space problem, necessitating weekly or sometimes daily
pump-outs with, as our grandson says, “the poo-sucker-truck.” Expensive! Smelly! And not very sanitary when the toilets back up or
the tank overflows onto the street. Sewers are needed.
 |
| Point south and say you are headed to a restaurant |
Besides
the dust, dirt, noise and the daily confusion about how to access
this area, there is a personal cost for the employees. Their earnings
(tips) are dramatically reduced, with many customers avoiding the
area, unsure how or where to gain access.
Many taxi drivers
are reluctant to drive customers or employees to the various
restaurants and bars. A few taxi drivers have been demanding more
money for the nuisance factor of travelling on bumpy dirt roads,
worried about damaging their cars. The police tell people that the businesses are closed. Not so. They are
all open and waiting for you.
 |
| New sewer lines and upgraded water lines |
The
new construction completion date is set for the first of the year,
but right now I am looking out my window at a torrential downpour of
rain that is turning the dirt streets to mud-holes, filling in the
trenches with goopy muck, and slowing down the process yet again!
This
week, the detour route starts at the north end of the project, near
the car ferry docks. When stopped by the police at the barricades,
just point south and say you are going to a restaurant, then head on
into your off-road adventure. Keep a sharp eye out for the propane
delivery truck, and of course, the poo-sucker-truck.
You wouldn't want to have a close encounter of any kind with
these two behemoths.
 |
| Expanded deck area at Marina Paraiso |
The
staff and management of the various businesses would really
appreciate your support. Since I wrote this article yesterday,
the road has been preliminarily paved up to the entrance to Marina
Paraiso & Barlito's.
Patience, my friends, patience. Eventually, it will all be finished.
Murder and mayhem. Revenge and romance.
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