“Write in recollection and amazement for yourself.” – Kerouac


Andale’s 10th Anniversary in Playa del Carmen

The music from the Andale 10year anniversary bazaar echoed from my balcony. We walked toward a barricaded street stuffed with people. Andale is a publication in Playa del Carmen.

Crowded groups push their way along piles of used and new items. Books, pallet furniture, clothes and godly amounts of shoes.

Snack vendors hog the street selling ice cream, nuts and Chicharrones with hot sauce. The smell of toasted sugar and vanilla come from Marquesitas being served hot off the cast-iron griddle and stuffed with warm nutella and fruit. A man serves roasted corn lathered in lime mayo, hot sauce and queso.

My son grabs toys that I pay 5 or 10 pesos for. He eats Neapolitan ice cream on the street as it melts down his arm, and plays with locals as they showed off their new found toys.

 

The band plays LOUD. Two men with air-filled cheeks blow into their horns as another member of the band beats the bongos. Couples dance within the crowd barrier.

Rain falls as we gobbled down chicken served with plastic bags of rice, black beans, hot sauce and corn tortillas beneath the red Coca-Cola tent. Smoke from the grill chokes me as I suck down a sweaty can of Sol.

My son runs around the plastic tables and back and forth between tents with another niño. I buy them both cold drinks and his mother thanks me with a wave.

 

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