Patience! Living in Mexico is all about patience

“Living in Mexico is all about patience,” Tiffany Yenawine-Wareing philosophically wrote on her FaceBook 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 allows access to the middle section part of Rueda Medina, the main north-south route on Isla Mujeres. She and husband Brad Wareing jointly manage the Marina Paraiso hotel/marina/restaurant/dive shop complex located behind the detour barricades.

First road block - near car ferry entrance

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 few hundred feet south at the 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 causes a big problem with space, 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 backup 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 as to how or where to gain access. 

Many taxi drivers are reluctant to drive customers or employees to the various restaurants and bar. A few taxi drivers have been demanding more money for the nuisance factor of traveling on bumpy dirt roads, worried about damaging their cars. The local Policia are telling 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 really wouldn't want to have an close encounter of any kind with these two behemoths.

Expanded deck area at Marina Paraiso bar

The staff and management of the various businesses would really appreciative 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. 

Hasta Luego

Lawrie & Lynda

Today's "pretty picture" - three amigos fishing near our house

You can find us on the web at:

Humerous stories about critters we have known:

http://animalsandfamilymembers.blogspot.mx/

AND

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Adventures-of-Thomas-the-Cat-Las-Aventuras-de-Tomás-el-Gato

Hidden Secrets (Lawrie's turn to write)

I know, it's a hard job running around Isla looking for all the fun bars. Oh well, my “check liver” light is not on at the moment, so here goes.

Starting downtown on Francisco Madero Street, just off Hidalgo Avenue is Tiny's Bar. No, Tiny, the owner is not tiny, but the bar is. 

Two-for-one Mojitos

It is probably only eight feet across. Tiny's is a fun spot with great drinks, and my brand of beer: Sol. 

But since it is two-for-one Mojitos day, I had to sample a couple, and then it is time to move on. 

This time I stopped at the Bunga Bar, also known as The Drunken Mermaid, just a cross from the ferry terminal on Rueda Medina. They don't carry my brand of beer, but oh well, I guess rum and Coke it is. 

This is a perfect spot to people watch in the late afternoon – lots of small and even smaller bikinis passing by on the street – with fun music playing in the background.

I've got a bit of a buzz going. I'm going in circles, retracing my route back to Hemingway's Grill (La Tablita) on Guerrero Avenue. 

La Tablita - Hemingway's Grill

This is a place for me to get into serious trouble. Luz the bartender takes very good care of me, and they have icy cold Sol. Well, I'm going to leave the downtown area now, and travel up the west side of the island to where I can park the golf cart, and get a taxi as driving will soon not be an option for me.

Bahia Tortuga - listening to music.

Bahia Tortuga is the first bar I came across. It is a great palapa bar situated on the bay, with a stage for the outstanding live music acts they feature. 

They don't have my kind of beer, but a Margarita or two will be just fine fun.

Soggy Peso SOL - colder than a penguin's butt

Next is a short walk to the Soggy Peso Bar & Grill. Okay it's only two doors away. 

Here I am in serious trouble; icy cold Sol cerveza, killer strong margs, and fun, friendly staff. I had to be taken home at this point (I think).

Oh, the sacrifices I make for a good story.

The day after I continue my quest to hunt down all the fun bars on Isla; besides I need the golf cart back.

Daddy Blues at Barlito's 

On to Barlito's at the Marina Paraiso. It's another enjoyable palapa bar, overlooking a marina, that also features live music three nights a week. Barlito's serves most types of beer, which is rare, as most bars in Mexico are either a Sol house, or a Corona house, but not both. It's a licensing thing.

The Band with No Name at Chuuk Kay

Next door to Barlito's is Casa Blanca. It's one of those bars that is not structurally sound, as they seem to need a brass pole to hold the ceiling up. This one is probably best enjoyed later at night.

A little further along, and back on the waterfront, is Chuuk Kay with a new and very large palapa right on the beach. The covered space would easily accommodate a large wedding group. Chuuk Kay also has my kind of beer, and good food. The Band With No Name – Javier and the guys – play fun danceable tunes on weekends.

Five-piece Cuban band with a guest singer

Right next door is Varadero, also known as El Cuba Ron. It's an excellent Cuban restaurant overlooking the passage where all the expensive boats pass by, headed into their docks, or stopping at Varadero for food and fun. They have live Cuban music on the weekends, both Sol and Corona products, and super fish dinners, but I'm just drinking this time. After leaving Varadero, out on the main road is Bronco's, with cold Sol and late night entertainment. I would need a special kitchen pass to go there – and I'm afraid to ask!

I've heard good things about the Casa de los Sueños happy hour, and the one at Maria's Kan Kin on the south-west side of the island, but darn, I'm impaired again and will have to continue this fact-finding mission another day …....

Hasta Luego

Lawrie, Maureen, Randy, Amy, Kevin, Ken, Colleen, Linda, Rich

Lawrie & Lynda

Find us on the web at:

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Adventures-of-Thomas-the-Cat-Las-Aventuras-de-Tomás-el-Gato