Wandering and exploring the way we have over the years inevitably brought us adventure and windows into the behaviour of family life. Some become will ‘o the wisps while others stay with you. We often visited Mexico’s west coast where a long-time friend had a place in the hills overlooking Bahia de Banderos in Conchas Chinas (south of PuertoVallarta).
Curious by nature, I noticed there was a local bus stop down the hill. A bus came along and I hopped on, not knowing where it was headed. Turned out to be a 35 minute ride all along the coast, for 25 cents. The bus passed where “Night of the Iguana” was filmed. You know, the movie with Richard Burton and Ava Gardner (Elizabeth Taylor was on the set.)
Anyway, it turned out the end of the line was Boca de Tomatlan. Back in those days (early 1990’s), ‘Boca’ was a sleepy fishing village about to awaken. The beach is compact so it can’t become developed. Small boats leave from Boca to take families on picnics at a nearby island. You can watch pelicans diving for their meals. There are a couple of rustic palapa restaurants which serve delicious grilled Huachinango (red snapper).
On an early visit, we sat down at a wooden table painted sky blue, covered with a red and white checked tablecloth. We ordered the Huachinango, con ajo, and a beer.
A youngster in bare feet (she was just able to look over the table top), came with a basket of garlic bread and a big smile. Her name was Felicitas. Her father brought us the beer, and her mother (the chef) delivered in person our delicious fish dish. We enjoyed the serene atmosphere of Boca. When the time came to go, we paid our bill to the owner and gave a generous tip. “Come again!”, he said. (And we did, often).
When we walked away towards the bus stop, I looked down and there was Felicitas pulling on my trousers. She held out her tiny hand. She also wanted a tip, for bringing the bread basket. “What about me?”, she said in Spanish. I thought, “Bless her!” there goes a future entrepreneur, and someone with a strong foundation for survival. Hasta luego, Henri
(p.s Feel free to forward this blog link to others, the more the merrier.)
0 Response to '"What about me?", asked Felicitas'
Post a Comment