As I mentioned last weekend, I have been enjoying the
company of Guests for the last week and so, along with the Holiday
celebrations, my normal routine of working most days in the Real Estate
Office here in Loreto Bay has changed
during their visit. This has reinforced
my belief that one of the important benefits of having guests here is that
their visit can be the motivation for those of us who live here to do things,
and go places, that we may not during the rest of the Season - and this is
particularly true for me, occupied as I am more or less full time with my
business.
For instance, I was happy to be able to take my guests to La
Picazon, a great little restaurant that is one of my favorite places to go,
it's about 10 km north of the town of Loreto, spectacularly located right on
the shore across from Coronado Island, let alone being one of the best
restaurants in the area. However,
because it is about a half hour's drive each way, and lunch there is a
leisurely affair that can typically take a couple of hours, this was my first
visit there this season, since my return here in the Fall.
Surrounded by the excellent hospitality of Alejandro and his
wife Imelda, the Owners of La Picazon, we enjoyed some of the freshest and tastiest
seafood anywhere, and then relaxed in a sunny corner of their patio to enjoy
more of the perfect afternoon on the Sea of Cortez, with beautiful Coronado
Island in the distance. It is perhaps
not surprising that several times during this memorable lunch I found myself
wondering why it had been so long since my last visit to this place, and promising
myself it would not be so long again until my next!
On several trips to town during their stay with me, I have
taken my Guests to a few of my favorite shops where they found a few well
chosen gifts to take home with them - which I hope will become the basis of
some of their own memories of their visit to Loreto. Again, by showing them around "my
town" in this way, I too came to re-appreciate some of the appeals Loreto
has, and by answering their questions and relating stories about things that
have happened to me here, I reminded myself again of some of the reasons why I
love living here.
I also realized how my normal week-to-week routine has gradually
become more or less pared down to the necessities; like getting cash from the
Bank, dropping into the same three or four stores to pick up my groceries and
other supplies, and then making my way back home again to Loreto Bay - without
taking the extra time to drop into a few other shops, or drive around the town
a bit, if only to see what's new and keep up with the changes that are going
on, but can be too easily overlooked, if one is blinkered by routine and habit.
Another thing I wanted to share with my Guests while they
were here was the special experience of the Sunday Market. Although you may recall that I have done
postings about this market in the past, it has been several years since I have
written an update about it. But once
again I blame my routine and other circumstances for this situation, since
Sundays are one day I count on taking off, and between publishing the Blog and
some of the other more mundane housekeeping realities, it has been too long
since I chose to take the time to "hunt and gather" at the Market.
Of course the other thing that has changed since my last
visit to the market is its location - last Fall when the arroyos flooded with
runoff from the mountains the previous site was washed away, necessitating a
change of venue. I knew that it had been
moved to the north end of town, somewhere off the main highway, and so, last Sunday
morning, we headed off to find the new location to show my Guests some of the
local color that is market day in Loreto.
Highway 1 skirts around the west side of the main town site
and continues north through a "less structured" suburb area called
Miramar which is located on the west side of the road. Because the new market site is not within
view when you are on the highway, I had to stop and find out where to make the turn,
which I found out is Calle Delfines, the first main road to the left, past
where the divided road becomes the two lane highway heading north. A couple of long blocks later you can't miss
the hubbub of shade awnings, cars and people that fill what is usually a sports
field but on Sundays becomes the social and shopping center of Loreto and the
surrounding area.
After grabbing a vacant parking space we headed into the
maze of stalls and people to get our bearings and see what was available
where. While the old market location was
one long alley with booths on both sides set up facing each other, this new
arrangement was more muddled with a sort of "main street" core
surrounded by other booths (possibly late-comers, or with less seniority)
squeezed in more or less randomly where they could fit. 
For the ex-pat community the main attraction of the market
(aside from people watching and socializing) has usually been focused on the
several fruit and vegetable stands which have a wider variety and often better
quality of produce than what is regularly available in the "brick and
mortar" grocery stores in town.
That is, however, changing, with the increasing competition from retail
newcomers like the Lay Super Express that opened this Fall, and the
improvements made by the previously existing stores in town in response. But
for the large majority of the customers drawn to this weekly market, it is much
more than chance to pick up fresh produce.
Here you can find just about anything; clothing (new and
second hand), shoes of all shapes and sizes, hardware and household items of
almost any description (again new and used), children's toys, jewelry, etc. There are also a couple of open-air
restaurants doing good business for the Mexican equivalent of "Sunday
Brunch" as well as peddlers wandering among the crowd selling cotton candy
and just about anything else people want.
After a quick tour to get my bearings, my focus was on one
of the smallest and least significant booths - just a folding table with three
chest coolers and a scale - but it was what was IN the coolers that counted - SHRIMP! To put this into perspective most of the time
I have been living in Loreto shrimp has been a staple/delicacy usually easily
available from vendors with the ubiquitous coolers, selling out of the back of
a pick-up or parked car, often at the side of the road or outside some of the
bigger grocery stores. However this
Season shrimp has been very hard to find, with even restaurants having trouble
finding enough to keep it on their menu.
So when I saw the sign for "Cameron" I joined several other customers and waited my
turn, while watching the lady behind the coolers scooping a dwindling supply of
large, fresh, shrimp in the shell out of the ice and water. Fortunately, when it was my turn there were
still some left and I was able to buy a kilo (2.2 lbs.) of 6" shrimp for
300 pesos (less than $25 US) before she ran out. To put that into perspective, that was
expensive based on past year's prices, but given the scarcity so far this
season, I was happy to pay the price and add Coconut Shrimp (one of my
"house specialties") to the menu before my Guests finished their
visit.
And so as we begin another New Year, and conclude another
Holiday Season, it is a time for reflections about the year past and the year
to come. For me, enjoying sharing my
Home and Community with first time Visitors from Canada, has given me a gift I
resolve to appreciate and remember. That
is the gift of seeing and experiencing again the many things that attracted me
to this special place - and that sometimes I can take for granted. Receiving the gift of seeing again, through
other's eyes, reminds me why I love "Living Loreto"!
