Today’s walk ended at Juanito’s restaurant, which was meant to be the beginning of my trek. The plan was for a bowl of fruit, yogurt, and granola, and then continue on toward Salagua, but a group of men sitting together at a large table motioned for me to join them.
This is snowbird season in Mexico, and the Canadians have landed. I remember this murmuration from winter months some twelve years ago, but the flocks now are much larger and cover more landmass.
The streets and cafés are awash in muu-muus and muscle shirts. It didn’t seem to matter to this group of local businessmen that I wasn’t Canadian, but they didn’t seem comfortable until my country of origin was established.
Then there was some discourse regarding the preferred language, but on witnessing my struggle with Spanish, it was concluded that we would all just limp along in an odd mix of both. Their English was not bad at all.
There was a car dealership manager, a couple of condominium managers, the president of a trucking company, and a couple of chaps who worked at the port.
The topic of the day was what was perceived as a growing problem of poverty in the city.
One number I remember was 25% at a moderate to extreme low poverty level or income inequality. Their take was that it was not just the local people who have made it what it is today, but mostly well-off ‘white’ people who are buying properties and driving up the prices of rent and real estate.
One man came to the defense of ‘white’ people, and more than likely for my benefit, by reminding the others that many snowbirds and expats actively donate some proceeds to charity; they help the local population a little with healthcare and education.
I found all this to be encouraging and ironic. Those of us partially responsible for driving up housing prices and the escalating poverty are making some effort to improve the lives of impoverished locals.
So, not much walking this morning _ I’ll try again tomorrow. Enjoy the city.
