Hidalgo Avenue Update

When all work stopped on the Hidalgo Avenue project December 15th, I was skeptical that they would really be back to continue with it on January 16th. Especially when they left it in this condition.






Cynical old me was certainly surprised when, in fact, workers showed up on the 16th, put up this sign and dug right in again.





This is the view looking north. The plastic chairs in the left of the picture are Fredy's Restaurant. They dug a trench in December but now they are actually stripping the pavement from curb to curb.









It appears that they are indeed doing a little section at a time to avoid disturbing tourism as much as possible. Good for them. I hope they get this whole thing over with quickly though.

NaBalam Beach

Just a couple of quick shots of the NaBalam beach, across from the Avalon. Beach "restoration" at work. That stick in the water is usually where the beach is. Ok then.

Portable Flowers

We have a nursery here on the island. A pretty good one too. Problem is, they have all the typical plants that can be found most anywhere. I think we have about two of each one planted out back!



There is also a guy who walks around downtown pulling a wagon behind him. This is packed full of what we used to refer to as "house plants". Of course, here they are for outside. But something new has appeared downtown.



Aren't these pretty?









He even had the most beautiful smelling gardenias mixed in there. Alas. We know from experience that none of these fragile plants will survive our wind and salt issues.



So we sadly watched him walk away. Hopefully to make a sale further down the street.

Isla's Biggest Eyesore

This is a post I have been working on for a very long time now. Months and months in fact. I wanted to show this monstrosity from start to finish. Problem is, I hate this building, I hate that it has been allowed to even be built here, I hate how it looks, I hate what they are doing to the beach and I hate what it represents.

I think it's pretty much done now. Or at least far enough along to really get a good sense of it. Big trucks have been parked across the street from it recently delivering mattresses and other furnishings. Plus I am sick to death of taking pictures of it. What you see here has been culled from hundreds of pictures I have taken.

I shouldn't even give this place the time of day on my blog. But it is now an integral part of the island so I feel I should mention something about it. Don't expect it to be nice though.

I'm going to start with pictures of Aluxes Condos (no relation to the coffee shop!) once it was high enough to start seeing what they were doing. This place is huge, to say the least. It sits on the northwest corner of the island, facing the mainland. It is located right across the street from Jax and next to the old cemetery. (the new cemetery is just down the road from me) You can't miss it.






Like all building endeavors in Mexico, all the safety measures for workers were taken. Yeah, right. Look at them walking on the girders.




And using really secure scaffolding.

Here's the view a few months ago taken from the car ferry.

One more rough construction picture.

What you have seen so far is the front of the building. If you take a few steps down the dirt road next to it, the one that goes to Playa Sol, you can get a look at the back side. As you can see, somebody ignored the no higher than 3 stories rule for building on the island.

The front side appears to have lobbies and entrances all along it.

I just can't express how this building makes me sick. It is just so not isla. Look how it dwarfs the cemetery.

When I was doing the article for Hotel Las Palmas, I was able to get this shot from their roof. Without this building, or if it were within the 3 story limit, one would have had a view of the ocean and the sunset. Pity.

But they didn't stop with just putting up this monstrosity of a building. Oh, no. They have now purchased a beach concession right across the street from them and are putting up a private beach area for the future residents of this condo complex.

The fence is just to keep people out during construction. I'm sure they will have security people to keep you out later.

Here you can see how close to the water they get. They can't use all the space to the water and keep people from using the beach. But they can leave only just a sliver of beach for the public to use.

Normally the hotels who purchase beach concessions put up wooden palapa buildings. Not good enough for these people. They are actually putting up permanent, cement block buildings. One can only imagine what they will be. Bathrooms? Beach bar?

They do have some palapas lying around that they will erect eventually. These will provide shade to the privileged.

I sincerely hope that nobody buys into this project, that the investors lose tons of money and that the next Cat 5 hurricane knocks it all down. And don't tell me about how many jobs this project has and will create. Not interested. There are many more eco-friendly projects that they could have done to create jobs.

End of rant.

Driving On The Beach

Here's a good example of why you shouldn't drive on the beaches of Mexico. This was taken in Baja Sur.

Much Anticipated Meeting

I am so excited this morning! I have a much anticipated meeting with a fellow blogger whom I admire very much. When I discovered her blog last year, I fell in love with her photographry. Billie described it as "topsy turvy" and it is!



We have been trying to connect this week since she is here on the island but just haven't been in the same place at the same time. And guess what? I bumped into her at the grocery store yesterday! She graciously agreed to meet me this morning over coffee and share some of her photography tips with me. To get ready for that, I put my camera on "macro" and shot what I think are good photos. Like these:

I wonder if my style will improve or change after my meeting with Misty of Big Sweet Tooth?

Seen On Isla

A shot from the top of the ferry looking into that infamous parking lot. The one where the letters spelling POINTER were taken off my car. And still I park there!

Snorkel tour boats waiting for passengers.

I Think I'm Legal

Monday was my long awaited and stress inducing interview to change my FM3 to an FM2. The final step before actually being handed the booklet that allows me to live here (almost) hassle free for another year.



Part of that process is getting fingerprinted all over again. Thus the green thumbs!



My interview was conducted by Manuel. (not his real name) He was the first agent I dealt with over 5 years ago. Usually a nice, friendly, helpful guy. Not so yesterday. I don't know if he had a wild hair crosswise or what but he was just plain mean. The interview went like this.



I take a chair in front of his desk in a tiny little office space shared by another guy. The office is so small that the chair sits sideways to his desk. He shuffles through my papers, types some stuff into the computer, which I can't see. Then he turns his attention to me and says



blah, blah, blah, blah pierna derecho blah blah blah blah derecho?



To which I responded



Perdon? (excuse me?)



He then raises himself up stiffly in his chair and haughtily says to me, in English



You have lived here long enough now. I am NOT going to baby you and speak English. You either understand Spanish or not.



Ok then. I never asked him to speak English to me and the only reason I could not understand him was because he asked me that question as fast as he possibly could. On purpose, I think, so he could give me his little speech. I wanted to say



Listen you little presumptuous, officious twerp, I could certainly understand you if you had the decency to speak clearly, distinctly and courteously to a foreign guest in your country. And it is none of your business or concern how difficult or easy my life is based on my ability to speak Spanish.


Instead I said. in Spanish

I'm sorry. I didn't hear you clearly and didn't understand the question. Could you please repeat it?


Whereupon, in Spanish, he replied



do. you. still. have. tattoos. on. your. right. leg. and. right. chest?



I said yes. (like I would have had them burned off since last year or something?)



Then he typed some stuff into the computer again, printed out a page with all of my basic information, tossed it over to me and said to review it and sign it at the bottom. That completed, out came the ink pad.



He fairly yelled at me to push my thumbs into it and press them into the correct spaces on the form. Then he sat there to see if I would do it right. Since one of the places was actually in my new FM2 book, I read where to put left and right very carefully. Of course, he was telling me to hurry up at the same time.



All in all, I was glad to get out of there and was just boiling mad. At least it is all over for another year. My lawyer will collect the actual FM2 book for me once the pictures I gave them have been attached.



Why does Immigration always have to be so stressful?

What's Going On?

I couldn't keep a houseplant alive if my life depended upon it. And yet I find myself with two green thumbs!



Any guesses as to why? Go ahead. Give it your best shot.







Answer tomorrow.

Saving Antiquity

The Mayor has announced that she has appointed a commission or a panel to initiate returning the island to its' past glory. She, too, feels that the moratorium on buildings over three stories tall has to be enforced again. She also wants an end to all the new high rises. She says they do not capture the spirit or feel of the island. You go Girl!



When she refers to past glory, I wonder if she is talking about buildings like this:

Words To Live By

WASH YOUR HANDS







PUT GARBAGE IN THE PROPER PLACE








DON'T WRITE ON WALLS OR BENCHES







COMPLETE YOUR TASKS






PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS







DON'T EAT IN CLASS





SUPPORT OTHERS

In The News

Some interesting things have appeared in our local rag sheet, Por Esto, lately. The ones of interest to me are:



* Our local gynecologist has deserted his job, leaving patients waiting. Wage increases for the doctors in our local clinic have repeatedly been denied and this is the result. How far will this go? How many doctors are we going to loose as they seek a "worthy wage" elsewhere?



* Z Gas has gotten another "cuff on the ears". This company is pathetic. They are the only suppliers of propane gas to the island. They use this monopoly arrogantly to deliver gas when and where they feel like. They do not keep to any scheduled routes and it is almost impossible to get a tank of gas from them. They are rude and arrogant. They supposedly have a warehouse on the south end of the island. The Office of Civil Defense has told them that they have to shape up. There was no "or else" statement though. Civil Defense is concerned about the danger to people and property as more and more people are loading their propane tanks onto their motor scooters and either driving around the island looking for a truck or going directly to this warehouse. It is only a matter of time before there is a devastating accident and explosion.



* Since President Calderone has announced the freeze on gas prices in Mexico, the local taxi drivers union has announced that it will also freeze taxi fares at their present level. No new fares will instituted until the freeze on gas prices is lifted.



* The Mayor has dismissed over 50 City employees in the recent weeks for failure to perform the job for which they were hired. Most of these have occurred in the area of Public Security and Income and Control. Surprisingly, most of these people are ones that supported her candidacy and that she appointed.



* About time for this one. Local citizenry has filed complaints against our only grocery store, Super Express. Among the complaints are double charging for items (ringing it through twice), charging full price for an item that is tagged as "on sale", poorly trained and ill mannered staff and refusing to give refunds and keeping the original receipt while they conduct an "official investigation". They also complained about the long lines at the cash registers due to under trained and/or uncaring staff.



* There has been an increase again in burglaries to our south end residents. This is commonly known as the wealthiest neighborhood on the island. The Mayor has assigned four full time police officers to patrol this area. They will all be undercover. The best part? They will be on bicycle!



* I am really concerned about this last item. The head of the USA Dept of Defense, Robert Gates, has placed Mexico on the same list that contains Pakistan as a threat to American security and way of life. The reasons stated are Mexico's inability to get organized crime and drug trafficking under control. This is causing chaos and instability to the Mexican government and threatens American security. The USA has issued a warning that must get this under control or suffer invasion from American troops to remedy the situation. I find this unbelievable and insane. Has anybody heard about this? If so, I would like more information. I can't even imagine what will happen to us expats if the USA invades. Scary stuff.


* It was on this day, 29 years ago, that B and I met. That would make today our anniversary.

EDITED TO ADD:

Many readers have sent links via Comments to news stories regarding the possible intervention of the US into Mexican territory. I found the El Paso Times article very good. In part, it said:

"Any descent by Mexico into chaos would demand an American response based on the serious implications for homeland security alone."

It doesn't state what the "American response" would be, but we all know what liberties the US takes under that horrible umbrella of homeland security. I'm not worried, but a bit concerned.

The article also goes on to say, in part:

"...two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico."

This may be true. Mexico's economy is quickly getting out of control. Today the offical exchange rate for the dollar is a little over 14 pesos! This can't continue or we are going to see a serious devaluation of the peso, like in the early 90's.

Go to Comments to read the entire articles provided by readers.

Featuring.....Chicago Deli

Another new restaurant has opened on Avenue Hidalgo. The Chicago Deli is the brainchild of owner/operator Pedro. Some of you may remember him as the head chef at Marino's last year. The restaurant located in the prior location of Koko-Nuts Bar. He left there and has opened his own place, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Although the dinner menu is the same as the lunch menu.














This man does not skimp on servings. When we went there for breakfast I had an omelet with bacon and B had eggs over easy. B's eggs were done to perfection and there were three yolks present. Usually one only sees two. Coffee is extra but bottomless and tasty. Breakfasts will certainly fill you up and are in the $5 to $7 range.



The food was so good that we decided to take Ivan there for his birthday lunch. Among other choices for sandwiches, he offers roast beef or pastrami. B opted for the roast beef and was given his choice of about seven different cheeses! He was a bit skeptical but reported that it was the best sandwich he has ever had on Isla. Strong praise indeed.






I was also impressed with the variety of mustards brought to the table. Normally the old standby of French's yellow is all you get. I was thankful to see something else on offer.




Ivan and I opted for the bacon cheeseburger. Again with the choice of cheeses. Ivan went for the manchego and I took gouda. The portion of fries (extra) looks meager here but Ivan and I shared an order for $2. The burger was $5.



It certainly was a filling lunch, but, to be honest, I have had better burgers on the island. My favorite being at San Cocho's. These were definitely what I call box burgers. Preformed, stacked and frozen. They weren't despicable, being Angus burgers, but still, I would prefer a fresh, hand formed one.




Here's a sampling of his breakfast menu and then the lunch/dinner menu. Interestingly, the breakfast menu is in pesos while the lunch menu is in dollars. Residents of the island receive an automatic 15% discount off their bill. Sweet!

I didn't get a picture of Pedro since he was in the back cooking. But I did get the bartender and the waiter to pose for me. Some of you may recognize the guy on the right. This is Cesar, one of the waiters for the past few years at Don Chepo's. He still works there at night. They both speak very good English.

If you're on the island now or plan a visit soon, I would recommend you give this new place a try. I would really like to see him succeed in this unique (to the island) venture. In fact, Heather is up from Playa del Carmen visiting and that's where I'm taking her for breakfast this morning.