The newest addition to tiny businesses open on our block is Alma Cafe. It joins about a dozen other tiendas operated by families who live behind, above, or next to their shop. All open up to a narrow sidewalk on either side of Calle Encarnación Rosas between Guadalupe Victoria and Constitución. They do not include the more or less ad hoc card table of used clothing or posole sold by the Ibarra clan just a few doors up from our casa.
The cafe is in the space that used to house the papelería and zapatería--office supply store and shoe store--overseen by Vicente's daughter, María. Vicente is the recently deceased great-grandfather who was the nearly constant occupant of a stool set up just outside the store's opening. His presence and greetings seemed to bless our block.
In the same spot where he used to sit, on the wall next to the cafe's opening, is a just completed drawing of Vicente wearing his sombrero and holding his cane. I think that the alma, or soul, in the little coffee bar's name refers to this kind man.
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| The Alma Cafe has only been open a week. It is being run by Vicente's grand-daughter, visible behind the counter. A great-grandson, seen standing center, takes orders. The dibujo of Vicente is on the wall below the cafe's address, 15A. This is exactly where he used to sit and exchange greetings with me most mornings for over a year. I imagine he'd been doing that with everyone on the block for a long time. |
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