tarting up Cuyutlán

Easter is only a week away. As usual, there is much bustle and sweeping and painting in our little village. This happens every year; complete neglect of everything ~ sidewalks, streets, the malecón, house fronts, store fronts ~ followed by 10 days of frenzied fixing. Aside from the months-long work on the malecón, starting last Monday a phalanx of workers began at the entrance to the town, right off the toll road, wielding brooms, machetes, shovels, paint brushes and rollers, ladders and wheelbarrows. Their job? Slap some lipstick on this little pig and show the governor how the taxes collected from the good citizens of Cuyutlán are being spent. And tax money has to be spent in the year it is collected; no carry-forward. So they have to get rid of it before they lose it. There are many things this little town could use (desperately) such as decent public baños to accommodate the influx of visitors. But instead we have a new walkway that nobody will ever use, a new hedge of bougainvilleas planted so close together that at least half of them will die in two weeks. The other half will be dug up and taken home by the more upstanding residents. ¡Asi es la vida loca!

The other town-wide effort has been painting. Someone got a great deal on white paint, thousands of liters of it. Everything from the entrance to the end of the street at the malecon, probably a quarter of a km, has been painted white, including curbs, tree trunks, sidewalk support beams. Now I will admit that some of those fronts needed a good cleaning-up, but our colorful little village now looks completely homogenized and boring. A perfect background for the inevitable graffiti has been graciously provided by the government. But then, after Easter it will be a free-for-all again and in a month the houses will have been repainted and once again a rainbow of bright colors will greet visitors.

Yesterday I went to a heretofore untested restaurant that I have been admiring for a couple of years. I see it every time I drive into Tecoman and finally decided it was time to give it a try. What a wonderful discovery! It is called Caminaro. It has lots of greenery out front so it is hard to see what's inside. Along with a very large main part it has a big patio area in back with a pool, probably 50 tables, a swim-up bar, a dance area ~ great party venue. The chiliquiles were the very best I've ever eaten, including those made by the Patient. In the main restaurant there is a charming altar with an "assemblage" painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, made of paper maché and salt done by the owner, Freddy. In fact he did all the paintings throughout and laid the mosaic floor tiles in one of the little dining nooks hidden throughout the restaurant's gardens. A delightful place, well worth another visit.