Mexico Moments -- (Primarily) Banderas Bay

From time-to-time we experience moments we think of as charmingly, quintessentially Mexican.  Some we have captured digitally, others we recall in word pictures.  Here are some we’d like to share:   

Mexico - Land of the Entrepreneur:  Though on many corners one can still have one’s car washed by a man using a rag and a bucket, at one shopping mall in Puerto Vallarta we saw a more modern approach to the portable car wash:

Con Sonrisa (With a Smile)

Style:  On a Sunday afternoon in Puerto Vallarta, Molly sat in the shade in the main plaza, waiting for Bryce and Jim to finish a tour of the naval museum.  There were three shoe shine stands open for business.  At one, a nattily dressed elderly mariachi having his boots shined was serenading the shoeshine man.  We will never know if the mariachi was paying for his shine with his song or whether he just wanted to sing.

Glamour:   The glamorous style adopted by many Mexican women is difficult for Molly to attain and maintain while traveling on Abracadabra: 

Glamorous - But Impractical For A Sailor Gal

“In Mexico, There Is Music”.  Music is everywhere -- on the street, in restaurants, and on buses.  When we are not in the mood for music (oh, say, it’s midnight and we’re trying to sleep . . . ) we chant the following mantra as an attitude adjuster:  “This is Mexico.  In Mexico there is music.”  Many of our “Mexico Moments” are musical:

                Street Side Café – Mazatlán.  Friday evening at a street side café in the Olas Altas neighborhood of Mazatlán a well-dressed businessman sits by himself.  He sips tequila, relaxing after his work week.  An elderly man walks through the café with his guitar.  He offers to play a song for the man.  They strike a bargain, and the musician begins to play and sing.  The man sips more tequila, and then begins to harmonize with the musician. They sing well together.  The musician sits down at the man’s table.  They sing another song.  The man sips his tequila.  The sun begins to set.  They talk, and sing another song.  They are no longer customer and entertainer, but compadres. 

                Local Bus -- Sayalita to La Cruz.  The bus is very crowded.  Several seats are occupied by the middle-aged members of a band commuting into town for an evening strolling through restaurants and playing for tips.  The drummer removes his snare drum from a seat to allow Molly to sit.  Bryce sits next to the guitar player.  Behind Molly is the cellist.  Often musicians will play music on the local buses for tips.  These men have a long evening in front of them.  They do not sing.  The drummer takes out his cell phone and plays . . . a reggae song: Rivers of Babylon.

                Venta Gas.  Most kitchens in La Cruz use propane fuel.  The delivery truck comes several days a week and circles through town playing its jaunty jingle over a loud-speaker:  “Ven-ta, Ven-ta, Ven-ta Gas!”  (Selling, selling, selling gas!).

We hope you have enjoyed our Mexico Moments – and that you will share your “moments” with us wherever they take place.