There is much activity at Perla Del Mar with 60 - 80 men working there six days a week. As you can see in some of the pictures, the units are taking shape and nearly ready to become homes. The scaffolding has come down, and the building is really starting to take shape. It’s going to be beautiful!
It’s strange why we ‘Northerners’ have the impression that Mexicans are anything other than hard working. It seems that notion may have stemmed from Hollywood where from childhood we’ve been given the impression that Mexican society had relatively little purpose and it’s people lacked ambition. A general lack of dynamics may have been another implied imprint left by these Hollywood purveyors of distorted facts. The reality is much different.
Many of us, because of our age, have learned by necessity and experience that a nap after lunch is beneficial. Mexicans have known this much longer. Typically they start early in the morning with most schools in class around 7:00 am. (This alone is amazing to us because you’ll find whole families together in the town square at 9:00 pm, socializing and eating.) To make this schedule work, school classes are complete by 2:00 pm or earlier. The family then has the main meal of the day after which it’s siesta time 2:00 to 4:00 pm. In other words, they turn off the phones, close the businesses, eat, lock the doors, and then sleep. This post is dedicated to a few of the guys who are building the 23 beautiful homes that will be Perla Del Mar.
It’s amazing where you can sleep if you’re tired. Most of these fellows, while not being big men, are constantly lifting 5 gal. pails of concrete, rock or sand. Their stature certainly does not illustrate their strength or tenacity. While we work with steel toed boots, they wear oxfords or sandals - ouch! Most, without constant supervision on our job, would not wear hard hats. Amazingly, there has only been one injury so far, and that not serious.
Mexicans love celebrations. Their most colorful nationwide annual festival is the celebration of the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe. We are waking to loud firecrackers at about 5:00 am in the morning, but it appears that parades with wonderfully dressed participants can occur at any time of day. Certainly we’ve seen these costumed folks in most squares in the city during this 12 day celebration, but especially in the evenings.
In just a few short years we’ve grown very fond of our newly adopted country. It’s kind, friendly people have taught us patience, a unique kind of politeness, and made us more aware of our blessings. Today we go for a pre-Christmas lunch with our architects, Marcela (de Alba Thompson), Alejandro de Alba, and their three children. It means rearranging our day as lunch begins at 3:00 pm. in a beachfront restaurant named Porto Fino (their kids like the pizza there), but it is an important part of our relationship with them. We feel more of an attachment here each year, and each time we leave Manzanillo now, there is that feeling that we’re missing something.
Stephen and Tiffani, who are new acquaintances, are helping us with our marketing program and are working diligently on our website: Manzanillo Real Estate. They are young Americans who are becoming part of the fabric here while enjoying Manzanillo. They run a Manzanillo Information Blog with lots of information and stories on the area. If you check this link you’ll see a nice feature article on Perla Del Mar.
That’s it for today. Please stay safe, warm and healthy.
