2024-01-21 08:00:00
Araceli wanted to be an artist. He studied Fine Arts in his native Mar del Plata but his children arrived quickly, and they postponed his plans. Although Now he was reunited with his creativity. The beaches of Las Grutas are her setting and she became Paloma. That’s why every morning he dresses in white, frames his eyes in black and blue, and drives his car. She sells ice cream, but she feels that her role goes much further. She delivers fantasy to everyone who crosses her. And when It brings a smile to those who buy, it lights up. “That is the secret of happiness” resume.
His long figure is one of the many that invade the destination’s spas, where many vendors cross each other, zigzagging, to offer everything…from balls and toys to glasses, dresses, various foods and drinks…
-Los vendedores ambulantes, sumando su colorido a las playas de Las Grutas-
In this lean season, sometimes their presence is more bustling than that of the tourists…because to be mobile they have to impose themselves. The only ones that remain silent are their stories. Although that is resolved quickly; A couple of questions are enough for each of them to reveal who they are, and what they expect from the summer. The truth is everyone agrees on something. The dreams that move them go far beyond the economic.
Araceli, the pigeon of Las Grutas
Araceli He is the perfect example of everything that is hidden behind a salesperson. At 70 years old, he confesses that, in the middle of winter, he misses the summers. Because, although he lives in the town, “I no longer wear white or go to the beach like always. “I miss being with so many people, which is what I like the most.”
-Araceli, orgullosa junto a su carro de helados-
For her, her story as a salesperson began in 2015. She came to visit her son Gabriel, who had moved to Las Grutas and was studying nursing. “He already sold ice cream, and everything he knew had been taught to him by his ‘sensei’, as he tells ‘El Piraña’, a street vendor that we both ended up learning from.”
-"Making people smile makes me happy" contó la mujer-
“The piranha” opened the doors to an unknown world and, as Ara thanks, with his advice “he saved us years of walking the beach.”
What did he teach them? “to find out who has a hungry face, distinguish tourists from residents, know how those who are into something else and are no longer going to buy from you get onhow to choose places to sell according to where tourists stay…”.
That list was completed with their knowledge. Because Araceli she taught herself to build Paloma, the saleswoman who drew with artistic brushstrokes and that it continues to give him so much joy.
“Everything started like this,” the woman began, enthusiastically. “The first thing I sold was bread. Croissants and alfajores for the ‘Paloma del Golfo’ bakery. Since I went down to the beach I was successful, and I don’t say that out of vain. The people received me very well. I sold 100 dozen a day. Because I was dressed in white, everyone started calling me ‘Paloma’, thinking that the name of the products actually came from me.”
That start was productive but short-lived. Between his retirement and his sales, she helped his son receive her education, but He hurt his hip carrying so much weight. The stoppage did not last long. Because then ice cream appeared, and the success continued, but with other items.
-Work is sacrificed. When the sea rises, it is not easy to walk along the beach.
“Now I look at other things. “He who eats ice cream is not the same person who buys flour products,” she said, with engineering precision.You have to be near the water, because bathing makes you thirsty and many quench it by buying an ice cream. Then there are the boys. “They always look for the ice cream man,” she confided, her eyes shining.
Children are his weakness. “They look for me because I catch their attention. I see some of them once more from season to season, and they remember if they gave me a shell, or if they said something to me…” she smiled, enthusiastic.
Adults respect time. “When they look towards the sea, with their gaze fixed forward, is when they no longer want anything. They are in their world, and they are not going to buy you” summarized.
-“In winter I miss the sale on the beach,” the woman said-
For the rest, he does not use ‘little songs’ to attract attention. He doesn’t scream either. “I consider that I have the right voice,” she said, proudly, “it is neither very high nor very deep. AND As I pass by I list all the ice creams I have. The cream ones in the shape of characters, the water ones…”.
His dream, however, is to become independent. “I’ve already thought regarding everything. I I make handmade buckles. I’m going to sell them, and offer hairstyles. For girls and big women. I even have the name. She is going to be called ‘Paloma mia’. Because that’s how people baptized me. “I know I’m going to do very well,” she said, hopeful.
Brian, from Engineer Jacobacci to the sea
Brian is 22 years old, and turns his cap around while pointing out a “yeite” that he learned on the beach. “When the tide is low we go out with the cars. But if the sea is ‘up’ we load the churros and donuts in a basket, and To the strips, so that they don’t get stuck, we put the ‘fleta fleet’ that kids use to play in the water. Because then the weight doesn’t hurt your shoulders,” she said.
-Brian, with his cap backwards, with his teammates, on the beach-
He is shy, but “hardworking.” By dint of persistence he managed to match the sales that others resolve quickly, adding more spark or sympathy. Yours is something else. He “puts his teeth into it” and “walks the beach.”
This is his fourth season at Las Grutas. “I started when I was 18. I came one summer with my mother. She was working in complexes, and I was traveling. Afterwards my mother didn’t want to continue, but I came back. I’m doing well. With what I collected I was able to save for a motorcycle, and to buy horses” he confided.
His life now passes between the beach and the countryside. “In winter I help my old man, in Jacobacci, and in summers I come here. I already know several kids with whom we half rent something, and “We stayed the whole season.”
He still doesn’t know what he will continue studying, because when he finished high school he started working on odd jobs. For now, she enjoys that life that was created, between Jacobacci and the sea. ““I got used to dividing the year like this, between the countryside and the beach” he confessed, smiling.
Lautaro, 100% mobile
Lautaro leans once morest his car, and above his head the cotton candy rises like fantastic clouds. Those sweets and popcorn are already part of his routine. He just changes the frame. During the year he sells in a plaza in Bahía Blanca, the city that is south of Buenos Aires, and In the summer it moves to Las Grutas.
He is 21 years old, but has a poise that adds to his age. Maybe because he started at 6, accompanying his dad, and he is a true itinerant. His ‘old man’ started selling clothes, and he followed him like a shadow to every point he dragged his car to, planting a flag out of pure sympathy. He now does the same thing that he learned, but He exchanged fabrics for sweets.
-Lautaro, firm in his position on the third descent of Las Grutas-
“You have to tempt them with the smell. When you start preparing the popcorn, that’s what calls them. There are two audiences. The older ones, who buy popcorn because they like it and it brings them beautiful memories. Or the kids, who ask for, and want both cotton balls and popcorn,” she said, in detail.
Luti no tiene ‘quantitos’ nor ‘voice’. “I am low profile. I get to the beach and start preparingr. People approach you. I’m nice, yes. “You have to win over the customer.”
His greatest pride is having set up his own business in Bahia. “I have my own car in a permanent position, and I was able to do it with what I was collecting,” he confided, excited.
Now he dedicates himself to that. He cut short a career as a senior construction master that he abandoned during the pandemic, and a job at the Port of Bahia, because the He prefers to manage his time, and, in summer, enjoy the sea.
“There are things that are priceless. AND, When you get used to it, there is no turning back” he closed, pleased.
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