Getting to know the Neighborhood

Looking East on our block

Our trip in December really allowed us to spend some time in our neighborhood and to feel it's rhythm. Carlos, of course, had the most success as Spanish is his first language. He made sure to go to the little store down the block and get juice everyday and he introduced both of us to the lady who owned it. He hoped she would spread the word to the rest of the neighbors and she did! Almost everyone talked to us when we were outside sweeping or just heading down to the next block to the Internet cafe. They knew from the information that Carlos told to the women at the store that we were there for the month of December, where we were from, that Carlos is Puerto Rican and that soon we would be starting to remodel the house.
One concern Carlos and I had were the cars and commercial vehicles speeding down our street both during the day and late at night. At the end of our block we saw children playing soccer in the street and there seemed to be some near accidents. So we voiced our concerns to A, our realtor and friend and asked what did we need to do to get a TOPES (speedbump) added to our street. He talked to the neighbors who appreciated our concern and they told A that they had applied for one several months ago and were waiting for the results of their request. 
We spent time at the Internet cafe and found it to be a gathering place for some of the neighborhood youngsters as they could play Wii and Game Cube games for just a few peso's an hour... everyone would greet us with a good day or good night and we were feeling right at home!

Looking west

Directly across the street