Everyday life in El Quelite - Part 2 of our Visit

Looks like it will be another nice day. There are some wispy clouds high in the sky but most of it is blue. Yesterday there was a great breeze so only had to open the windows and not run the AC.

We went downtown yesterday morning to pick up Bill’s last and favorite watch that was in for cleaning and new battery and picked up my glasses. Wow what a difference. Love my new sunglasses. Just got new lenses in my old regular glasses frame. In the states they old me I couldn’t reuse the old frames HAD to get new ones. That’s one reason I had them done here. Spent the rest of the day at home.

But back to our visit to El Quelite. I mentioned we visited the ladies who sort the beans. This is the warehouse where they do it. There was only the manager and one lady when we got there. There are usually four or five ladies. You can see the piles of beans on the desk and table.  – Kind of in front and to the right of Bill is a pile of toys being collected for children for Christmas.

This is a bag of people eating beans – they are sorted out first – mechanically. By a shaker of some sort.

This is what is left, mostly half beans – any stones, husks bad discolored beans are taken out by hand. These beans will be used as livestock food. 

Bill with a handful of beans that need to be sorted. The kind of orange looking one by his index finger will be discarded.

Enough beans –

Walking towards the restaurant we stopped to watch a narrow side street being paved.

Here they have the strips of wood that will separate the pavers from the cobblestones.

The pavers will go up the middle

The stones on the edges. All done by hand.

The curbing is new too. Most of these little side streets were just dirt when we were here in the Spring.

Back to the restaurant - the name of it is - El Meson de Los Laureanos. Lots of work being done there too. This is the wash just next to the restaurant. Chicken and turkeys running around in it. And men working too. At first we thought they were repairing damage from the rains in September. So we went to take a closer look. Turns out they are repairing some damage but they are also working on stairs and a walkway to another section of the restaurant that will be on the other side of the wash.

The stairs leading down from the main restaurant. See the pretty tile. The railings are made of iron wood and they were having a devil of a time getting the screws through the wood.

The walkway in the wash leading from the stairs to the other side of the wash.

It leads to the second set of stairs and into the room beyond the door. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

This is the restaurant where I had my encounter with the iguanas a few years back. 

Then on to buy some tortillas from the little Tortilleria. 

Didn’t want to use the flash so the pics are a little dark. This is the whole room – it is open in the back on to a patio where clothes were drying on a line. The building itself is over 150 years old. The tortilla making machine is there with a big hunk of dough ready to be put in it.

He is catching the tortillas as they come down the conveyer belt. The lady uses the step ladder to put the dough into the machine. On the right is a galvanized tub where the dough is mixed/made.

Wrapping the fresh hot tortillas for sale. ½ Kilo for 7 pesos – less than 50 cents.. The ones that have been wrapped are under the red towel. Some of them will be picked up by a boy who loads them into a small insulated chest on his bike and delivers them to homes.

Bill buying some.

She told us this machine which is no longer used – can’t get parts for it anymore was used to make tamales.

Back outside – Cactus growing out of the roof of one home.

The vegetable truck making it's rounds. He has a digital scale. 

Just everyday life in a little town. A truck with a saddle on the hood, the water tank and chickens wandering around.

 Never ending chores - laundry on the line.

We took the detour on the way out of town. Didn't want to run into the big machine again. 

Heading home. Wonder if he is looking for the cow we met on the way in?

That evening there was also a beautiful sunset. Taken from the campground. 

In case you're wondering where El Quelite is - this is how we get there from the campground. 

If you haven't already read the first part of this day in El Quelite - it is right below this blog.