I went outside this afternoon to look at the corpse of yet another Iguana our three dogs caught (I’m always hollering at the 3 of them to stop barking at the them). The lizards like to sit and sun themselves high up on the wall, safe in the knowledge the dogs will never, ever get them. Except that the dogs have now caught two, in just two weeks. Ugh. I’ll never hear the end of it.
Bow-wow-wow-wow! Translation: “I see one of those weird green things!” The other two dogs run across the yard to join him.
“Shut up Chavo!”
Bow-rrrrrow-wow! Translation: “But I waaaaaaant one!”
“Chavo! You’re never going to catch that Iguana. Hey! Get out of those plants you guys!”
Bow-wrow-wow-ow-wow-wrow! Translation: (smugly) “Oh yeah??? Clearly you haven’t been paying attention.”
This is the daily routine of our three, rescued, Mexico-Mutt dogs. Back and forth they run, barking at the Iguanas who saunter across the fence and wall, taunting them. As I examined the most recent victim, I started thinking… How many of my friends have had to pick up the corpse of an Iguana in their back yard? Not many I’ll wager, unless they’re living here too. I expect there’s a lot of things that set apart my home from theirs and a lot of other peoples.
When I walk around my neighbourhood or head downtown, I walk on either a Calle or an Avenida. No Boulevards, Courts, Crescents or Way’s here. I may even walk on the malecon…but it’s not actually named that anywhere. All the one-way streets here are as confusing for many visitor’s as the names. I don’t think a lot of visitors have experience in a city where 2-way streets are the exception rather than the rule.
When people look for my house, it’s like a game. I live in one of the only houses on my block to have a number posted. Usually when people ask your address, you tell them what Calle or Avenida you live on and then what two cross streets you live between. Then there’s an entire block for them to go up and down, searching for you. It’s an especially fun game when you’re tipsy, or you have no idea where you’re going and can’t get phone service to tell the person that you’re wandering their block, looking for their house. It’s no longer fun when you’re hungry and have ordered food…and the delivery guy is wandering around your block trying to find you.
Doorbells. When was the last time you even thought about yours? You often have to hunt around the entrance to locate them because a lot of people here don’t actually have one. I’ll tell you, it’s hard not to feel silly hollering into a gate, trying to get someone to answer. The worst part about actually having one? The novelty of it is a source of apparently endless amusement for the neighbourhood kids, who seem to think they’ve invented “Ding-Dong Ditch”.
The flora and fauna here.
I have Palm Trees in my back yard – ’nuff said.
In a world of disposable, well…everything. I love the way people here are dogged and ingenious about repairing things to get more life out of them. There may not be the plethora of old 50’s style cars (like in Cuba) for people to work with but the same spirit of repair and modify, to keep the beasts on the road, is alive and well in Cozumel! It’s not just cars though, it’s all sorts of things. People here actually repair stuff before they give in and toss it out and if you toss something, depending on what it is, there’s a good chance someone will snag it pretty quick to repair or repurpose it. So when we have something that still has some life in it, that’s what we do – we put it outside where people can see it and almost always, someone comes along at some point and takes it for a second chance at…well…whatever. At least someone is using it for something and it’s not going straight into the trash.
The creepy crawlies here are something I don’t really want to compare…′cause they’re creepy…and crawly…and have bite-y, sting-y bits but mosquitoes? Well okay, this one I am fairly confident we all have to deal with pretty equally. Big ones, little ones…all of them, bloodthirsty fiends. In Canada I know there are places we always joked the mosquitoes could carry off a small child…but unfortunately, the ones here go for the bonus round with a roulette game of Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya. Eeep!
The world is a strange place my friends. I’m not crazy about the cockroaches…and I may start a house fire if I ever see another Scorpion in my room again…but I love it all the same. It’s a weird and wondrous place. The beach, the sand and sea, the flowers and people, the festivals and tragedies. It’s life in a big, colourful ball and not some stale, boring corner of the world where people go to die. This is the place people come to live.
Iguanas at Punta Sur
And some of our creepier crawlies…
A Canadian In Mexico 
A Malecon is a boulevard. Cozumel ‘s malecon stretches along the beautiful waterfront stetch of la calle Rafael Melgar.
BTW there are exterminators on the island. You should use them to keep all pests out of your house–including mosquitoes.
LikeLike
Hi Mary, thanks for taking time to comment! I think you may have missed my point, it was simply a fun comparison in pointing out that it’s Calles instead streets, etc. I meant Malecon as a general reference as it is used sometimes rather than the Avenida it is actually named, of course there are no signs indicating this. We have used Effectivos plenty of times over the years but sadly, the bugs don’t have a shared consciousness and don’t understand they are not supposed to come back here! 😉 I have actually found a more effective remedy, we have multiple ultrasonic devices in the house and it has rid us of 99% of the indoor creepy crawlies. Now we only need to spray outside in the yard. It beats having to haul everything out of the kitchen cupboards every few months!
LikeLike