rainy sunday

11/02/20

It rained all night. In the morning, the sky was heavy grey. A good day to find a new book. I took the book I had just finished and headed to Casa Iguana where I had heard, there was a book exchange. There I met Leo, a Dutch woman in her early 40s. Sh was just wrapping up her wares and we began to chat. She has been living here on the island for over 5 years. This is home now. She lives in a similar cabana to mine but shares a bathroom. She lives on the profits from her handmade jewelery and recycle art. She targets an upscale market and her prices reflect that. Her cabin is filled with bags of plastic and glass she gathers on the beach. He work is meticulously done and quite beautiful She tells me that she walked away from her regular life in Holland 11 years ago when she lost her job in a downsizing moment. She had a little inheritance from her mother, too small, she said, for a house or a business venture so she left for India with a one way ticket to Bombay. She eventually returned to Holland for a visit and then headed to Mexico. It has taken her years to get to this island and here she stays. She is living the life I thought I wanted years ago when I left with Tamara from Florida heading to the Caribbean. We only got as far as the Virgin Islands. I ended up returning to university and our lives took a different path.

No interesting books at Casa Iguana except for a possible Elaine Pagels and so I head to the village on the suggestion of Leo. The Dive shop has a collection for book exchange. I find a Mario Vargas Llosa and a Peter Mathiesson but I am not convinced. I stop in for lunch at a local eatery. There is no one at any of the tables when I arrive but friends stop to talk: a British couple; the young family from Nfld. whose kids I babysat yesterday. Other people start to arrive. I meet a young man from NYC, He tells me I sound like a New Yorker. I say that is because I am a Montreal Jew. Turns out he is Jewish too. Has gotten interested in Chabad after a stint in Buddhism. We chat a bit. Time to go. The rain has stopped for a moment. I walk down the muddy path towards my cabana. The rain starts again. It has been raining in fits and starts all day. I take shelter in a banana grove. The big leaves give good cover. It rains and rains. A man motions me over to his porch. I wait there until I think there is a break. Nonetheless, I am drenched by the time I get home. I change clothes and wait. The sky is finally clearing. Just down the beach is Carlito´s. I hear there is a good book exchange there . It is my next stop. I do find a book I want. In fact there are 2 to choose from. I give in my book, and take the first. I will read it and then exchange it for the next if it is still there.