Yesterday, Monday, dawned bright and sunny. Several fishermen just off the beach in their boats. Must have been something there they were catching.
Our neighbors John and Carol have some unusual Bird of Paradise they bought. Were told to stick them in the ground and keep them watered to make them last longer. They are so pretty they don’t look real.
To pass the time yesterday we all took a ride up to Santiago Ixcuintla. We go there every year. It is a nice sized town about 30 miles northeast of here. A nice drive past marshes and farm land. We were kind of checking the road out to see if it would be easier to take it back out to MX15D. Kind of a six of one half a dozen of the other situation. The way we came in is much shorter but lots twistier and narrower. Yesterday's way is longer and goes through a couple of towns where the pavement is horrible and the topes are every few feet and there is lots and lots of traffic to watch out for. So we’ll see when we leave.
We got to Santiago Ixcuintla and it was packed – wall to wall – curb to curb packed. People and every kind of cart and vehicle you could imagine. Forgot it was the week before Christmas and everyone was in town shopping. Could not find a parking place – all the lots were so full they wouldn’t even take triple their asking price. Finally found (after asking a police man) a lot at the edge of town. This meant a good walk back to the plaza and the mural. As we came up to the street from the parking we saw this. Mom and kids out shopping. Don’t know if she was taking the bird for a ride or if she just bought it. The cage is anchored to the front of the ATV.
Kept walking towards the center of town. Sharing the sidewalks and streets with many interesting sights. Meat anyone?
How about a cooked fish. We saw him a couple of times all over town.
A closer look at the fish.
This was the first time here for John and Carol and George who also came with us. Finally made it to the center of town. All the benches either were just painted with a bright coat of white paint or were in the process of being painted. We decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to sit on one of the bright white ones it still might have very fresh paint on it. That is the government building in the background.
Got hungry on our walk so Bill bought everyone tangerines. Very good. And cheap.
Then across the street to the church.
We have never been in this church. Every time we’ve been here before it was either closed or something was going on inside it. Sure glad it was open today. Very interesting inside. It is painted a pale green with darker trim. There is a white Christmas tree with trimmings and a nice Nativity scene by the altar. Up in the upper left hand corner you can just see a triangular piece of art – the bottom of it.
There are four of them and they are beautiful mosaics.
The interior of the church with John, Bill and George. You can see the size of the mosaics on the ceiling behind them.
Some of the outstanding wood work in the church – confessionals, pew backs and a railing.
A closer look at the railing. I’m glad we finally got inside of it.
Back out and up the street to gawk at the wonderful huge mural again. I see something new on it every time we come here. This time I walked up the stairs to the houses above it to take pictures looking down on it. Looking across the street at a small part of the mural and the houses above it. You can see how big it is by looking at the person walking by it.
One little section of it. It is made with tile and rocks. It was built in 1991. For more info about it check out this link
Another picture of it – compare it’s size with the lady walking by. And it is at least a block and a half long on both sides of the road.
We headed back towards the shopping area and passed this lady with her baby.
Just an interesting old building with lots of layers of paint on it.
The man sitting down is sitting in front of his barber shop. He was working on a block of wood with two small leather straps on it. Bill stopped to ask him what he was working on. His answer was quite interesting. “Really nothing but something to keep me occupied because if I do completely nothing I waste my time. And wasting time is a sacrilege – so I do something to keep myself busy so I don’t waste it. Time is all we have so we shouldn’t waste it. Time does not come back. It is here now, it doesn’t come back.”
So true.
Looking down the street in the very busy shopping area.
Some of the things for sale – candy.
Colored chicks. They are dyed with food coloring – don’t know any more than that.
Cows head in wheel barrel – he was selling pieces of the meat out of the wheel barrel to different meat markets. This is the only town where I’ve seen cow heads for sale.
Right next to the meat market was a fancy dress store. Not 10 feet away. Every step we take there is a new experience waiting for us.
This market already had it head. The head is sitting on the chopping block – an old tree stump!
All kinds of means of transportation around town. Mom has on a helmet. Older girl is in front of her. Young boy behind with baby in between him and Mom. Can see baby’s white diaper and legs moving around.
I took at least 100 more pictures but these were the highlights. Maybe will publish more later.
Today we were going up to I am still going on line with our neighbors (friends) TelCel card. We don’t have phone service here so can’t call HughesNet or MotoSat for help with
We went out for dinner last night to the San Blas Social Club – after thinking about the great food there last year we were kind of disappointed in our meal. Hope it was just an off day for the chef.
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