By. Evelio Reyes Tipán
Among the most remembered town criers of the 70s, Don Yagualito was a character much appreciated by the housewives of Santa Elena, who knew his route and arrival time to their neighborhood offering fresh fish.
Pinchagua…pinchagua…pinchagua beach. Shoots…shoots…stone shoots. Mullet…mullet…fresh mullet, were the morning cries and songs that stirred up the area where the marine species seller passed, while the radio La Voz de la Península announced seven in the morning.
Women still in their nightgowns would leave their homes with plates or trays to buy the fish that Yagualito was offering, alerted by the loud voice that announced the precious merchandise that she carried in her wicker basket, thus awakening the sleepiest in the neighborhood, accompanying her powerful cry with the crowing of roosters and the barking of dogs.
Don Yagual, as many called him, had the spark of a good fish merchant. He called his regular buyers “patroncitas” and always gave them an extra fish, leaving the menu of the day up in the air: “prepare a dirty broth with plenty of yuca and grated greens” when selling the pompano. “Eat pinchagua only with refried beans, the children will like it”, “a soup rich in phosphorus will send you to sleep” he would say to his happy buyers who, after choosing the fish with trays in their hands, would gossip on the sidewalks.
Ballenita, a fishing spot with whimsical rock embroidery, was the birthplace of Yagualito, a strong man dedicated to fishing tasks, with black hair straight as coral, a square face marked by the action of the sea breeze and the sun, and slanted eyes that recognized fish spots from a distance. He walked around wearing colorful shirts with a knot at the height of his navel, pants pulled up to the knee, and often he walked barefoot, wearing an old straw hat; on his shoulder his large wicker basket covered in net was always necessary, on certain occasions he only carried his shoal full of fish.
As an old man, his most memorable image was seeing him sitting on the sidewalk, resting next to his basket.
The mullet season in Ballenita was a real sea party when fishing for them, bringing together foreigners and locals on the beach from five in the morning in search of the coveted fish, lighting bonfires while waiting for the school to pass by so they could be pulled to the shore.
At dawn, Yagualito would go out to Santa Elena to hunt for fresh fish, while the cholas would stoke the fire in the stoves to roast mullet and greens, aromas that would cover the peninsular streets announcing the arrival of the mullets to the coast of the peninsula.
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