People In Our Neighbourhood

When we are travelling, our neighbourhood becomes the other travellers and often the people in the service industry that can help make or break an experience in a new place. 

We stayed at the same hostel (La Catrina) in San Miguel de Allende for a month which allowed us to get to know the people in our neighborhood. 

The hostel has a simple breakfast that is included but they also offer a hot breakfast for a small amount more. This hot breakfast is cooked by the same group of ladies each day.  The cooks always had a smile, and would beam when I got the order using the correct words and the correct tense in Spanish! 

The folks at the front desk seem to work about 12-hour shifts, and we did most of our conversations in Spanish. When I got really stuck, they used English words, but only until the point was made and then they reverted to Spanish. I imagine these folks are fully bilingual, but they supported our Spanish learning, and I will be forever grateful, for their patience and support.

The lady who operates her fruit and vegetable stall in the Mercado was another person in our neighbourhood.

Every few days we needed a resupply of food and we would return to this stall to inquire of her, and her kids. Then we would order; cebolla (onions), jitomate (tomatoes), platanos (bananas), papas (potatoes), aguacates (avocados) etc... The lady would choose the specific items, and provide them for us in a bolsa (bag) ready for transport. When the transaction was completed, we wished her a good day, and she always replied in kind.  This was great Spanish practice as I don't believe this lady speaks any English, but she was always patient with our beginner Spanish and willing to work with us to help us find the words.

My favourite person we met in our neighbourhood was a gentleman who operates a tiny tienda (store) near the hostel.

He is differently abled and works behind the counter in a wheelchair. I have no idea how this system works, as the small store has piles of supplies in every corner in what appears to be a completely haphazard manner.  It is not possible to navigate a wheelchair away from the counter and into the mayhem. Customers tell him what they have selected and wait for the amount to be calculated. The gentleman does the math out loud in Spanish (useful for those of us learning numbers) and provides the change. This system seems to work for everyone, from the 8-year-olds who have been sent for more tortillas, to the local folks who stop to chat and take 20 minutes to purchase a Coke, candy or household goods. 

It didn’t take long until we felt like we were being treated like ‘locals’. Most of our purchases at this tienda were 1.2 L glass bottles of beer (Tecate). When you buy glass in Mexico, you are usually charged a deposit and our first purchase at this store was no exception. We promptly returned the empty that same evening and received our deposit money back. From that day forward we never paid a deposit again. I must admit there were 2-3 occasions when we returned for another bottle in the same evening! When we returned out last empty prior to leaving San Miguel, we said a heartfelt goodbye. He smiled, wished us well and invited us to return to his beloved town again soon.

Overall, the old adage that ‘What goes around, comes around’ guides us as we roam around our planet, we feel there are always people who step up to the plate and support travellers for whatever they need. We remain indebted to the people of San Miguel de Allende, who have opened their hearts to us - THANK YOU!