Car washes, Cameras and Beachcombing

My camera memory card got stolen, then my replacement was faulty, so I can only have 9 photos in memory at any one time at the moment. That means every photo's gotta count.

Here's a little story of a morality lesson. A man had come to my door a few times asking to clean my car. The first few times I said, "Sure!' and paid him 50 pesos. He needed to borrow a bucket and rags to clean it, and he had a friend with him. So the 50 pesos was split between them I guess.

There's a lot of that down here...poor people who do whatever they can to get by. And I guess you get a little..not callous, but calloused. A little hardened to their predicament, especially as they are so cheerful at all times.

Anyway, one day he came by as usual, and I was super stressed about something, working for 3 clients at a time, so when he asked if he could wash the car, I hesitated, then said, "Oh, no thanks, not today." And I started to shut the door.

He replied, "Do you have anything to eat? We're very hungry." And I thought, "What kind of monster am I??" I said, "yes, sorry, you can wash my car, one second."

I went and got his bucket, and when I got out there I realized that he travels with about 6 dogs, all of whom were hungry and thirsty. So I fed him and his friend, and watered and fed his dogs, and gave him 50 pesos for washing the car.



That's him on the right, his name is Melquisedec, a biblical name. His friend is Juan. Oh, the "No Sniveling" bumper sticker? That comes from a local bar, Dan won it at the Food Festival here.

Here are a couple of Melquisedec's dogs. The others didn't want to hold still.


So most weeks Melquisedec comes by, cleans my car, we chat, his dogs get fed and watered and if I have the time and makings, he and Juan get a sandwich and some fruit. This week I bought an extra bucket and I'll see if he wants to take it with him.

Of course there are charitable concerns down here we contribute to, etc, but this was a more personal story of life here.

Carl asked me to post this:
Some stuff I found washed up on the beach that I'm leaving out for the kids next door to find. Not the fishing float though, too convenient for throwing.

Beachcombings

Last night Dan, Cheryl and I went out to a local restaurant, Casa del Capitan - they were having a great deal- 30% off meals!



The view:


On Boxing day our neighbor Andreas (or Jose, depending on who you're talking to) came over with a gift. He fancies himself an artist, and created this modern art piece on some cardboard. It will stay there for a while, although the paint is still wet!


It doesnt matter what way is up.


Here are a few more shots of the places on the beach. This place with the dome was an ambitious development. From the road there is a long brick driveway that comes in behind the domed place. On the left of the photo in the distance is some kind of accommodation. There's a pool and a restaurant, but the whole thing never opened.


On the same piece of property is this little place that I've always liked the look of. It might have been the owner's place, I'm not sure.