Tuesday's progress toward frenzy

I took these photos this morning of what's happening down on the malecón in preparation for the next few days.

Here's the beginnings of the disco structure. This looks new this year; it's usually just posts dug into the sand and wrapped with big black plastic garbage bags. This looks like it might be a marquée or something. In the dead center of the photo you can see the tilt of our third floor palapa. The conical one to the right is on top of the Oasis Hotel.

Down the way a bit is this string of Corona stalls; each of these little cells will be an beer cubby. They will all sell the same thing; Corona beer in paper cups that get strewn all over the beach and the streets. Lovely.

Next door is the usual pizza parlor selling really bad food to be washed down with either Coke or, guess what? Corona.

The phone kiosk is in case you need to call home for some more pesos to buy yet more Corona.

The campers are now if full evidence on the north end of town. This is a mere fraction of how many will ultimately stake out their 4 square feet of sand where they will eat, sleep, cook and . . . well, whatever, for the next week to 10 days.

Every year, a family stakes out its claim to the area at the end of our street. They come early, set up this huge tent, and live there, on the cement for two weeks. Ostensibly they are a "taco stand" but believe me, you wouldn't want to take your meals there no matter how adventuresome a gourmand you think you are. After 10 days it gets pretty rank around there.

In preparation for the Easter celebration we have a new art installation in town. In fact, it's right across the street from us. It's this porpoise statue. I don't know who's idea it was, who paid for it, why it was put in front of the Oasis Hotel, or why the poor thing is heading inland instead of facing out to sea.


But there you have it. If the hotel put it there to encourage people to stay off the median in front, they've missed by a mile. Ingenious campers will use the base and the statue itself to string support lines for tents and other shelters. On the other hand, it does have a nice smile, don't you think?

Dinner this evening on the terrazzo with Fernando, Chuy, Jack and Marie. Our Cuyutlán "family." End of season and all. Full report tomorrow. Right now I have to go attend to the apple-onion confit that goes with the roasted pork loin. Mr. C made strawberry ice cream for dessert.