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Monter el autobus

The hacienda isn’t located in San Miguel proper, but an outlying village known as La Cineguita. The local buses wend their way along the dusty roads on a somewhat regular basis, most stopping at a major three-way intersection. The intersection itself has no street lights, or even a stop sign. However, if you sit on an abandoned curb facing this intersection long enough, you will eventually see everyone in La Cineguita. And their dogs. And their donkeys. And their cows. With the people, it’s good form to nod and supply a “Buenas dias” as they pass.

Dogs, by the way, are everywhere in Mexico, including inside many of the mercados. The word “mercado” translates as “market”, but doesn’t really get across the sense of it. In a regular “supermercado”, such as CostCo (there is one, an hour’s drive away) or Gigante (the local version of KMart), you have the bright lights and aisles of snacks, cereal, and other things that city folks are used to. In the mercado, what you have are aisles of large booths, offering everything imaginable. You can buy belts with the PowerPuff girls logo, pinatas in the shape of Incredibles characters, fresh vegetables, amazingly ugly acrylic yarn, blacksmithing tools, meat, teenage fashion, music and movies, and of course cooked snacks like huaraches, tortas, and licuados. About two blocks away from El Jardin is one of the main mercados in San Miguel, and next to it is the Artisan’s Market, an eye-popping collection of silverwork, folk art, and even songbirds.

¿Donde esta el sanitario?

As most guides to San Miguel point out, public bathrooms are few and far between. In a country where bus riders are reminded to “No pisar los asientes,” a bathroom visit away from home requires some forward planning. First, look around for a sign marked “Sanitarios,” or the more prosaic (and colonial) “WC”. Once you’ve spotted one, check close by. There should be a booth or a table, staffed either by a very old lady, or some disaffected teenager. Hand over two pesos, and you’ll get in return a prefolded and meager wad of toilet paper. That accomplished, you can select the appropriate entry–”Damas” or “Caballeros”, and you’re on your way to relief.

August 7th, 2005 Posted by admin | Travel, Mexico | no comments