LXVI. Miércoles en Guadalajara

Wednesday in Guadalajara

Yesterday I took the 50 peso—$3US—morning bus to our nearby Big City. You leave from in front of the liquor store up on the carretera, or throughway, that bisects the little town of Ajijic a few blocks north of where we live. An hour later you pull into the Antigua Central Camionera—“Old Central Bus Station”—at the edge of downtown in the sprawling metropolis of Guadalajara. I was there to pick up my camera which had been under repair for more than three months. On my 3 km. walk back to the bus station I took these pictures along Calle Niños Heroes and its side streets.

  

It was about lunch time and food stands were beginning to get a few customers. Here's a taco cart with shaded seating area.

 

This lady is preparing for the soon-to-come noon rush.

There are nearly a hundred stands for these ride-away bikes in the downtown core. For about $22US you can buy an annual card for unlimited use. Or, one Yankee dollar gives you a temporary pass good for a half-hour ride. The name "mibici" derives from "mi bicicleta", español for "my bicycle".

Jugo = Juice, Pan Dulce = Sweet Bread or Pastry, Frutas Picadas = Cut-up Fruits

You see yellow taxis like this all over Jalisco, and you can still spot working (!) phone booths like this at most corners. The busy food stand across the street will probably sell you a couple of shredded pork tacos with frijoles, plus all the trimmings, for about $1.

The colorful paint and tiles at this gift shop were in contrast to the workaday tiendas along most of these blocks.

"Mabe" brand appliances--pronounced "mah-bay" en español; mispronounced "may-bee" by gringos, as in "Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't", especially when referring to washer/dryers, as we can attest.

Lo Mio = Mine, Películas = Movies

This main street called "Niños Heroes" shares it name with hundreds--more likely, thousands--of calles in practically every town and city in the country. The Niños Heroes were the "Child Heroes"--six young military cadets who died defending their Chapultepec academy against U.S. forces in the 1846-7 Mexican-American War. In addition to young martyrs to memorialize, the war ended with the Republic of Mexico reduced to one-half its former size and the U.S. gaining California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and half of Colorado.

The dozen blocks on Niños Heroes before you get to the Antigua Central Camionera are chockablock with small bathroom and tile fixture stores, one after another after another. Last time we visited Guadalajara, we were struck by a similar concentration of numerous wedding dress stores near the main mercado.

A good view of a spectacularly well-shaped ass.

Commerce picking up in the Bathroom Commode and Tile District. Notice the two hombres--far right--fronting commodes at their adjoining stores, under the shade of an ubiquitous ficus.

Speaking of "ubiquitous", here's that store we love to hate, cunningly placed next to a billboard advertising the latest rom-com.