Poqueno Pueblo ... Gran Corazon

Yvonne and I first traveled to this area of Mexico earlier last year .. on the 31 January 2020 .. and ended up leaving early on 16 March 2020, because of the Covid-19 virus ... so the decision to return here on the 7 December 2020 was not taken lightly ... Yvonne and I followed all protocols while traveling.. as did all the airlines .. and even though we traveled separately .. we both arrived virus free .. and we continue to follow all protocols daily ... Dr. Fauci's six things you must do to avoid catching the virus has served us very well.

You can read more about the small town we are in and find all kinds of interesting facts and info by going to this website .. so I am not going to repeat that.

Let me start off this blog by stating some subjective observations from my walks .. and Yvonne's bike rides ... around the town .. the population here appears to be 65% age 21 and under ... there are babies and young children everywhere ... on foot .. on bikes .. on scooters .. on motorcycles .. everywhere .. .

There is housing construction everywhere .. appearing to be of two varieties ... engineered structures where there is the equivalent of an architects drawing and the concrete is commercially mixed and delivered ... but the most prevalent variety is what I will call 'community' construction where everything is done by hand ... all concrete mixed by hand .. all rebar cut and formed by hand ... and a cookie cutter house design that is repeated over and over again ... these folks work sunup to sundown .. six days a week and the work is backbreaking .. all is the hot sun ... 

The most prevalent thing .. the thing that is really noticeable is ... social discourse, music and .. laughter ... the sheer joy of being in one another's company .. with music playing and laughing ... it is everywhere ... you would never know that the world is in the grip of a pandemic ... it's almost like it is happening everywhere else but here ... and I guess that is both good and bad .. but if Covid-19 is in this town ... there is no evidence of it .. even after the tourist surge between Xmas and the New Year ... it defies logic ...

This small town reminds me of small town Canada in the 1950s ... beginning to develop .. but still steeped in where it is still coming from ... it is not unusual to see a beautiful home .. completely enclosed by high walls, ribbon wire and an electric fence .. and on both sides ... there are small family dwellings with cats, dog, chickens, roosters and babies running everywhere in a chorus of barks .. crowing .. cat fights .. laughing ..crying ... and bikes and vehicles parked everywhere ... it's a little bit like Cuba here ... old cars never die .. 

There are small vendors everywhere and small food shops .. each one specializing in their own take on a craft or food dish ... water and gas trucks broadcasting their musical advertisements that they are in town if you need either one ... various vendors pushing carts or biking with them selling everything from furniture .. to clothing .. to snacks .. to vegetables ... to cooked food .. 

It's a tourist town .. for both nationals and visitors ... with a beautiful protected beach ... it has everything that goes being a beach and sun destination ... sometimes it has a carnival atmosphere about it ... sounds that could be loud barkers .. or midway noise .. or even carnies ... but it is the urban sound of this town ... and we love it here ... and everything about it ... 

I am not sure how often I will post ... but when I do ... I will try to zero on an aspect of living here that I find both interesting and worthy of an essay .. in both pictures and words ... 

More to come ...

Stay safe .. stay positive .. test negative .. drink tequila ...

Phil (24 January 2021 - San Patricio de Melaque - 7:20 PM)

Mexican Proverb - 'Al mal tiempo, buena cara'