I’m rather ashamed to admit that I haven’t done much exploration since I got to Isla a little over a month ago. I’ve pretty much walked to the same places and haven’t gone out of my way to follow roads to their end. Isla is quite large and I’ve only been to a small fraction of it. Well, until today.
Tired of all the noise and not being able to get any work done, I took off mid-afternoon to explore a larger swath of Isla, especially the part that is, for lack of a more PC term, slums. I didn’t find that nearly as shocking as Dale did. There are farm yards in southern SK that look worse… The area had a bit of garbage and was obviously poor, but I could see pride of ownership. There were lots of little shops (abbarotes) and the few people I saw were very friendly and did not object to my camera.
First, here’s a non-detailed map of Isla to give you a bit of an idea of where things are. I’ve included Goat Island on that because exploration of that part of Isla is happening on Saturday with Dale! As you can see, Isla is actually a peninsula.
The area north of the grocery store is the ‘slum’ part of Isla.
I can’t believe I’ve never noticed this hardware store right across from the tortilla place!
I’m not convinced I would have bought sushi from this cart… 🙂
Another basketball court! This one’s by the school. And I found the school.
I don’t know if this beauty parlour is still in business…
School zone, 5KPH speed limit. I can walk faster than that!
AH HA! The medical clinic!
So cute!
This is another beauty parlour that Dale pointed out to me. It’s the Miranda. 🙂 I’m going to ask how much for a manicure.
This store doesn’t look like much, huh? It’s pretty much Ali Baba’s cave, carrying quite a few things the City Deli doesn’t.
There’s a TelCel store (of sorts) on Isla! The sign says that they sell equipment, parts, and SIM cards; do repairs; sell refills, and more!
Yet another basketball court, firmly in the ‘slum.’
This must have been a lovely house once upon a time!
There were four main types of buildings in the ‘slum’. The worst, to me, were the ruins of cement construction. Next, the corrugated metal construction. Then cement houses in poor condition. Finally, beautiful houses that would have fit into ‘my part’ of Isla.
Why is this gorgeous place sitting here without a roof?
Lovely murals inside.
This sign says that there is a university campus way at the end of the slum. Really? I didn’t get that far to confirm.
Lots of houses and land for sale in this part of Isla. It seems to be undergoing a bit of a gentrification in the first bit closer to the other half of Isla.
I love the colour of this house!
I saw a lot of political campaign stuff painted onto walls.
There are a few buildings on Isla marked as churches, but this is the only one I’ve seen that looks like a ‘proper’ church.
This is a big open area by the City Deli where community events are held.
I walked around the big open area and thought I came to a dead end, but found this narrow alley to squeeze through. I landed right in the dining area of a restaurant and was thankfully ignored!
The butcher shop.
