The Eco Show

Yesterday afternoon, after a big day of working around the house (Ed doing did some electrical stuff. It works! Peggy washed floors, did laundry, etc.) , we decided to walk downtown. It was The Virgin of Guadalupe Day. GD is a national holiday in Mexico with huge pilgrimages throughout the country. In Mexico City, the line of pilgrims can stretch 5 miles or longer! No such long lines here, just a day off! The town square looked very nice, but few people, so we ventured over to Eco Divers, where there’s usually something going on- and, there was. Jorge was finishing his late lunch and drinking a beer. Beer drinking is a good indicator that the “show” will start soon. Eco had a late dive trip and after a few minutes, the 2 divers, the divemaster, Porferio, and the boat captain all showed up. The divers had 2 great dives and wanted to share their experiences. Porferio and Captain Felipe wanted to be paid. So, the show began. Trying to get money out of Jorge is sight to see! He is famous for thumbing through pesos in his money pouch, while proclaiming he’s out of money. And, Porferio, who tends to spend his money immediately (mostly on beer!), was adamant about trying to get some pesos out of Jorge. Well, the “show” (arguing) went on and on. Porferio demanding money, and Jorge proclaiming he had none. Porferio would fiercely tell Jorge why he was owed and how much. Then, he’d walk away and brood, only to return in a few minutes and argue some more. And so the drama continued! The Captain, a smart man, knows that Jorge will eventually pay him, gave up early and went home. Jorge finally paid Porferio $500 pesos which merely put a dent into what Porferio claimed he was owed.
As Porferio was leaving as an old timer in Cozumel arrived. For those of you who have been here, he is the long haired man who always has a guitar in one hand and a beer in the other. The old timer said that he needed a place for two stools that were being given to him. Before we knew it, he was moving them in to the already cramped space at Eco. The stools were a sight to behold. They gave new meaning to the popular furniture here called rustico. They had chipped mint green paint with warped plywood seats. Who knows how long they will be there. They may just become a fixture down in the store.
With Evelyn the show continued for awhile longer. Evelyn is Eco’s evening manager, which means she’s the evening employee, a divemaster-in-training and basically, Jorge’s new slave. Evelyn is a young woman from Belize who recently got her hair cut in a Mohawk cut. Evelyn was preparing the invitation list for Eco’s “posada” which is a pre-Christmas party. The first guest on the list was her hairstylist! Jorge showed us a newspaper article that stated that 50% of small businesses are not having a posada this year, due to economic conditions. So, Jorge claimed that he was being magnanimous by having one. He said that each guest was allowed “2 beers and 2 tacos”! He was spending no more than $100 dollars. We were pretty far down on the guest list, but, because we were there, we did get invited. So, today, at 4 PM we’ll be riding bikes over to Paul’s house for the party. Paul is Jorge’s best friend and his wife is a great cook. So, the food should be wonderful. And, the show will continue today.