Favorite chance/brief encounter with a local

[susan]

So the board has been a little bit quiet so I thought I would start a thread.

One of my favorite reasons for vacationing in Mexico are the brief encounters with locals. I thought maybe there would be some interest in sharing some favorite memories.

Anyway here's my favorite memory although this happened in Puerto Vallarta.

A few years ago I was in PV with my then young sons. We didn't rent a car becasue the buses run so frequently and right along the beach strip as well. These are similar to the collectivos but in PV tend to be converted school buses. Well we had been in town at the markets for the afternoon and were ready to hop back on a bus to go back to the hotel. This was at the end of the day when many workers were finishing their day as well. We hopped on a bus which was very crowded. I found a place near the front for my then 7 year old to sit and I stayed with him meanwhile my then 11 year old got swept down the aisle with the push of people. I yelled to him to just hold on and I would get him for our stop. Anyway this elderly women with a weathered face and sweet eyes must have sensed my plight, must have been a mother, and had my son sit with her and nodded to me that he was ok. She watched me and when I got up close to our stop I looked over to her and waved and she got my son up to get off the bus. We smiled and nodded to each other again. Not a word was spoken between us but I will never forget that women's face, her eyes or the act of kindness to my son.

[Lynnette]

One of my favorite memories happened a few years ago on Isla Mujeres. A darling little girl was waving at me from the window of her casa, so I stopped to take her picture. She held up a tiny hand for me to stop, ran from the window and returned with her little brother. Such a darling, she wanted him in the photo. When her brother saw me setting up to take the shot, he said un momento, disappeared from the window, and returned holding his new puppy. OK, now they're ready for the family portrait!!! :)

http://lynne.smugmug.com/photos/292793532_nbBeQ-L.jpg

[Gale in KY]

Everyone loves a bald baby..lol.
In Akumal, October 2006, we were walking from Half Moon Bay to the Main Bay. along the way, we encountered many locals, all who believed evidently that it is good luck to rub a baby's head..lol.

This lady was particulary smitten with my granddaughter. The picture tells the story..needless to say, there was alot of good luck going around in Akumal on that October day. LOL.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/galee_2006/Akumal%202006/DSCF1397.jpg

Of course, you can see why everyone was so smitten with her..lol, one of my favorites taken that day.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/galee_2006/Akumal%202006/DSCF1391.jpg

[susan]

just thinking of all these meetings makes one smiles.

Gale- your story reminded me of a time we were in Mazatlan and just walking down a street in town, a couple of young women were walking the opposite direction when one of them reached down and pinched both cheeks of my older son- I think he was 8 at the time and with a big smile on her face looks at him and says "muy bunito, muy bonito" and then kept on walking.

To this day I grab one of his cheeks once in awhile and just say muy bonito.

Lynette- those kids are adorable

[HhowieE]

I'll play too......................so many meetings, which one to share?
A few years back we were very fortunate to arrive in Tulum with some pesos for the local community group Talleres Cero. The funds were raised through a get together and the sale of draw tickets. Our only contacts were Charlie of restaurant fame and Sally who owns Mixik, in town and on the hotel strip.
When we finallt hooked up with Charlie there was a rehearsal at the retaurant when he introduced us to Maria, the founder of Talleres Cero.
An amazing woman, instantly embracing, mesmerizing personality that made you feel safe and at home, mom was here. Our ages were similiar but she seemed so relaxed and confident beyond her years, as though she has seen much and come to peace with her world.
We talked for a very long time.
Of the initial days in Tulum some years back when all the single women had to work but the care of the children was erratic and unreliable until Maria started Talleres Cero as a communal daycare centre. Each mom would take her time off to care, entertain and educate the children allowing the other moms to work without concern for the kids.
Her eyes had me entranced, she exudes love and compassion.
I have no pictures of her but this one, her back is to us.
This picture is of her dance group that afternoon at Charlies, dancing after we spoke.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d37/HhowieE/RehearsalTulum06.jpg

Saludos,

Ron

[xamachdan]

These strange locals jumped out in front of my jeep in the Sian Ka'an.
XD

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/XamachDan/2008JanuaryXamach044.jpg

[Margoinmexico]

Where to start.....I have to say the best part of living here is getting to know the locals. I have made such wonderful friends with people I can barely talk too! I have so many times gotten the "Cooks Tour" of places that other gringos will never get to see....
One is I go to my neighbors house almost every day to feed our food scraps to thier pigs. This is really the stove that they cook their food on...This is Victor..."Mi Novio" He is one of the last "coco men" in the Sian Ka'an on the beach...definitely the last one south of the bridge. He lives 1 km south of me with his son Manuel who was born here and is a fisherman. These people really love me and I love all of them. They call me La Reina de la Playa.........and mean it. They have helped me out of more jams! They have always talked to me in Spanish as if I understand every word...(I don't). Victor brings me presents all the time, shells, rocks, coral...things that he finds on the beach or in the sand......

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll126/Margoinmexico/for%20%20the%20internet/10-5-2007-198-1.jpg

Oh I could tell a million stories on this thread! :p

[susan]

great stories everyone please share more Margo!

[kimba]

I don't think of meeting locals or having experiences with them as something outside the travel experience. I talk to just about everyone I meet - locals, other travelers, expats, taxi drivers, waiters. I'm the gringa at the table in the corner who is sitting with the waiter while he's on his break or the one in the front seat of the taxi so I can I can talk to the driver.

Once when I was in Baja I was in a bus station in the middle of nowhere waiting for a bus to go even deeper into nowhere (it was whale watching season).

I had a two hour layover in this dusty little spot and the only other person around was the bus ticket vendor. So we proceeded to have a conversation - in Spanish - about what ever, I can't really remember.

When the bus finally came, the ticket person said Adios and (in Spanish) "it was wonderful talking to you. You speak perfect Spanish but I didn't understand a word you said."

We both busted out laughing.

[ilovewyoming]

Margo: WHen we arrive in October my better half can teach us lots of good spanish..he speaks it fluently..i am a lazy butt and have relied on him to communicate everything these past 4 years....Many times, he is asked: "do you live here?" because his spanish is really good. I have nodded and smiled much too long and at the humor of Dave and those that have asked me questions in Spanish: LIKE;; "Did you like Tulum and the traquilo beaches and the naked people? and there I go: Smile, smile, smile and nod and say SI! and then LAUGHTER... I think..it is TIME to learn the language in a place i LOVE to be... Looking forward to meeting you and your present gang...

[John in DC]

Last summer we were down at the end of June -- the tail end of the slow season, and several people commented that they had never seen Tulum so dead. My wife was looking for some particular silver earrings, so every time we were in town we would stop into one of the shops to see if, miraculously, they had the exact earrings that were required.

(Apparently these were quite rare or exotic or something because it took a week to find just the right pair, and when they were finally acquired, they pretty much looked to me anyway like every other pair of silver earrings we had seen.)

Thus I had plenty of opportunities to talk with shopkeepers while my wife browsed. This was a universal man thing. The shopkeeper would ask Jen if he could help her, she'd say "no, gracias" and I'd give the guy a look that said "no, you actually can't help her because she is not sure what she is looking for." So we would chat, me with extremely bad Spanish and the guy in the store with usually good English. It' a good way for both parties to learn a little new vocabulary.

One afternoon, I'm exchanging pleasantries with an older gentleman about how slow business must be, what with no tourists around and all. This guy speaks great English, and it turns out he had lived in Miami for several years. And I say, "Well, pretty soon all the Europeans will start arriving and that should be good for business." He agrees with that -- Europeans are good customers. And then I say, "And I guess the Argentinians show up in July too."

The guy literally spits out the door, and says in a perfect Mel Brooks old man accent, "Get out with the Argentines! Bah! From them you couldn't make a nice lunch, let alone a living!"

:)

[Margoinmexico]

Margo: WHen we arrive in October my better half can teach us lots of good spanish..he speaks it fluently..i am a lazy butt and have relied on him to communicate everything these past 4 years....Many times, he is asked: "do you live here?" because his spanish is really good. I have nodded and smiled much too long and at the humor of Dave and those that have asked me questions in Spanish: LIKE;; "Did you like Tulum and the traquilo beaches and the naked people? and there I go: Smile, smile, smile and nod and say SI! and then LAUGHTER... I think..it is TIME to learn the language in a place i LOVE to be... Looking forward to meeting you and your present gang...

Good, I could use it....I am actually embarrased by how bad mi espanol is! I am hoping to go to a school somewhere in June...I had planned on Guatemala but not sure that is going to work out! We'll have us some fun! :sun::beerchug::sun:

[Margoinmexico]

These strange locals jumped out in front of my jeep in the Sian Ka'an.
XD

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/XamachDan/2008JanuaryXamach044.jpg


Haven't seen much of that Vacancy sign this season...it's been collecting dust on my porch!

[austxdan]

Haven't seen much of that Vacancy sign this season...it's been collecting dust on my porch!

But I DO indeed like that "Cerveza Frio" sign!!! :eat-drink: :beerchug:


Dan

[AdGuy]

But I DO indeed like that "Cerveza Frio" sign!!!

First thing I noticed too, Dan! :D

[sctx]

we hung out for a day with some crazy local chick named Margo last week...... it was quite memorable ........ thanks Margo !!!:)

[DougSR]

This same Margo person you speak of...she is a pretty cool chica no?

[sctx]

This same Margo person you speak of...she is a pretty cool chica no?

yep, pretty cool.... I'm trying to get my wife to give her Honorary American Date Girl status for our next trip :eek:

[heenan]

One brief encounter a couple of trips ago went like this: After dinner at Don Cafeto's in the Pueblo, we were strolling the main drag looking in the shops. One sidewalk vendor noticed me looking at his soccer jerseys, and said this: "We have all the football teams. You like this one. No? We have Cuban cigars, or if you like, something stronger (pointing to the open door in the back of his shop to the alley behind)."

We did not ask specifically what the "something stronger" was, but we joke about it often when we think of Tulum.

Heenan

[Gale in KY]

was chased down the street by a store guy in Playa..lol. he kept lowering his price..lmao. He approached with a question, "Would you like a pipe for your husband?"..then he leaned in real close to Twirley and whispered..."I have some good bud to put in theeee pipe!"

I about lost it right there. Twirls had to check it out...heehee..off she went into the store. Crazy Gringa. Shocked her when he showed her his good stuff. We beat feet up the street..heehee...answering over and over, "No Senor...gracias."...with Senor in fast pursuit!

I guess we looked like old hippies who would know what to do with it if we had some..lmao!:D

[DougSR]

My favorite encounter with locals happened on my recent trip and involved many people on Isla Mujeres thinking I played for a famous rock band, More details to follow.

[Margoinmexico]

This local is actually on vacation in the States!! Do I need to get a ticker for when I get to go back? At least it's hot where I am.....Not much time to post right now....I'm on my way to my nephews Law School Graduation!!!:star: His Present was a bottle of Maestro Tequila! :eat-drink: He and his wife are both graduating today so their 5 month old daughter is going to walk with them for their diplomas...I'm pretty proud! So, I'll post when I get a minute, just wanted to say hi!!!!!!:sun:

[DougSR]

This local is actually on vacation in the States!! Do I need to get a ticker for when I get to go back? At least it's hot where I am.....Not much time to post right now....I'm on my way to my nephews Law School Graduation!!!:star: His Present was a bottle of Maestro Tequila! :eat-drink: He and his wife are both graduating today so their 5 month old daughter is going to walk with them for their diplomas...I'm pretty proud! So, I'll post when I get a minute, just wanted to say hi!!!!!!:sun:

OK quick. If anyone needs to post anything about Margo behind her back now is the time! By the way, if someone who lives there leaves should they post a TR? :rolleyes: