Hammocks Are Us

Bienvenido, loyal reader. Please join Bruce and Mary as they deal with a surprising cultural difference between Yucatan and Jalisco.

Here we are relaxing in our hamaca matrimonial in our Merida casa. When we packed to move to Puerto Vallarta we gave away and threw away a lot of stuff and we deliberated donating our hamaca to the house, but luckily we did not. Because, after a little research, Mary discovered that what we had taken for granted is unique to Yucatan. It is the Hammock capital of the world, or at least Mexico.

Here’s Mary checking out yet another hammock at our Merida hammock store. Including ours, I think we have bought about a half dozen or so, here. They make great gifts for Stateside rellies and friends. BTW: This is what I call a hammock store.

When we moved to PV we experienced hamaca culture shock when looking for an apartment. The ubiquitous (in Merida) hamaqueros,  hammock hooks, were nowhere to be found. In Merida, nearly every room in the city has at least one pair and for many Meridanos a hamaca is their bed. Let’s fast-forward, we’ve been in our little flat long enough to start taking ownership of it and the one thing that will really make this place feel like home is a nice siesta in our hamaca, hecho en Yucatan. So we set off on our quest.

These are the two most common hamaqueros in Merida. A steel “S” hook is used to attach the hamaca to the hamaquero. The forked end is embedded in concrete when the house is built or if it’s a retrofit, an albañil, mason will cut, hammer and chisel into the wall and cement these bad boys in. Next stop, our hardware store.

We’re at our hardware store, on Calle Constitucion, Madero y Serdan. We call it the Hardware Store of Orneriness. That’s a little inside joke – our hardware store in Merida was named Tlaperia la Tristesa, Hardware Store of Tears, and since they just don’t seem to like me much here, the name fits.

But Angel seems to finally be warming up to me, but… he has never heard of hamaqueros. I explain that we want to hang a hamaca so he sells me a 1/2″ broca, drill bit and…

A pair of these. They seem a little light but I figured Angel should know what he’s talking about. So I go to work. I drill the holes, hammer in the anchors, screw in the hooks, hang the hamaca and then we test it.

I think you can tell from pix in this blog that Mary is pretty tiny. This is the result of putting about half her weight on the hamaca. If she had put all her weight into the test, there would have been an anchor shaped missile flying by.

It’s time to get some professional help. For hamaqueros, that is. We have no clue who to talk to, so one day as we were walking by the Comex store on Basilio Badillo just east of Insurgentes, we decide to pop in and Francisco, the store mgr, is happy to give us the name and number of a reputable albañil, Ramon. We called him the next day and he came over immediately for an estimate and commenced work the following day. Here is Ramon at work:

The polvo is flying!

Now it’s good ole fashion hammer and chisel work.

Not able to secure a proper hamaquero Ramon is actually wiring this much heavier anchor to exposed re-rod.

A closer look.

Now, Ramon is about to mix a combination of marmolina and concreto blanco, which I have never heard of. If I hadn’t thought it before, I am thinking it now: I would have been a complete fool to have tackled this myself.

He’s troweling the mix in and…

Doing the finishing work.

And of course no job is done until the work-site is clean. Ramon leaves our back deck/laundry room muy limpio. Tomorrow morning, after the concrete has set, he will do the painting.

The painting is about done and now it is time for el gran prueba, the big test…

You could have a party in this hamaca!!

Of course we think it is only fitting that Ramon should enjoy the fruits of his labor.

We’ve just settled up for the exact amount of the quote – 600P and while doing so we find that not only is Ramon an albañil capable of any and all concrete work including new construction, he is an artisan. He actually weaves hamacas himself which vendors sell on the beach and in several stores. Who knew? BTW: Ramon Mendez cell number is 322-157-6602. Give him a call for any sort of concrete work.

Thanks for visiting, gentle reader. Now that they have their hamaca up, Bruce and Mary report that all is well in their world. Happy St. Paddy’s day and Hasta proxima Domingo!