Villa Soleada Viewed as a Real Community

The first signs that Villa Soleada was finally a community, was when the salesmen began venturing down the long road to sell things to the villagers. While construction was taking place, no other vehicles (besides the occasional hardware store truck) ever ventured down the road. Now, almost hourly, a truck or car comes down the road selling some sort of food, cleaning product or household furniture. Twice a week the fresh fish truck makes it to the village. On Tuesdays, the meat truck arrives. Everyday a truck or two arrives selling fresh fruit or vegetables. With Villa Soleada a 30 minute trip to town (15 minutes to walk to the bus and then a 15 minute ride into town), salesmen know that many villagers would prefer to make the trip a few times as possible. Thanks to the many different types of salesmen, many villagers do not have to make the trip at all in order to have enough food for the week. The real sign though that Villa Soleada is on the "map," is the fact that trucks are now arriving to supply the small stores at Villa Soleada. Every Wednesday a truck now arrives to supply the three pulperias (equivalent to a corner store) at Villa Soleada with Pepsi and other drinks. Before, the villagers would have to ride the bus into town (at the cost of $1 each way per person) and bring back supplies for their small stores. This limited the amount and variety of goods that the stores could sell. Now villagers can purchase supplies at the same price as they would have to buy them in town, without ever having to leave the community.