About anytime after 6:00 PM - the Peanut-man [Enrique] can be found in the Plaza-de Arms, Antique, Vera Cruz, Mexico; actually it is called [the] Los Portal, the location of the Plaza that is. A baseball cap on his head, about 23-years old, blue jeans, white T-shirt, he carries a plastic-crystal-clear box of peanuts; "several selections for a wide assortment of peanuts: --a belt [strap] crosses his chest and back ----, attached to his box of peanuts, he walks this walk daily -at great length he'd make his way in and out of the tables that line up the north side of the role at the Caf (s) that support the plaza area, like a Mexican style-New Orleans, one might say. Actually, Vera Cruz, has a little of everything, not only peanuts [ruins, the Gulf of Mexico, live music nightly in the Plaza, etc]; but as I was saying, in and out, around and through the tables and chairs the Peanut-man goes each night; --fifteen pesos for a small assortment of peanuts on a small plastic dish, and 20-pesos for a larger plate. All in all, you get your money's worth; in addition, for that price, you would get five-different kinds of peanuts; some round and brown looking, that looked like peanuts, another kind that was long and thin, and it didn't look like a peanut to me, but it tasted good, it was more like a long sunflower seed, he called peanuts (so I let it go at that of course). And then there was that fat looking peanut, that had a light shell on it, my wife took them off for me, they were frustrating, I think I might have broke the table had she not rescued me: and I didn't want to end up in jail, and court and all that stuff over peanuts. For some odd reason, she had the technique, my wife, what a blessing she can be. They were all salted and oiled. He was a friendly sort of fellow, with a humble smile, --a brightness to it. Each night I would buy a plate of peanuts, eat them later, bring them to the hotel room, when I got hungry, and I always get hungry, or so it seems after I am ready to call it a night. As I would sit and take in the night, I'd drink my espresso with a side order of hot milk, maybe some soup, and a pork sandwich, and of course those peanuts. Written while in Vera Cruz, Mexico, 3/2003 [revised/reedited 1/25/2006 in St. Paul, MN] |
