Yesterday I wrote up a long description of where I've been here in Mexico and some of the things we have done, but hit the wrong button and lost it all. Any more impetus to write further kinda disappeared for a while....
It's been a really weird experience, this vacationing! Literally every other trip I have ever taken in my life has been business-oriented in one way or another - go here to paint, go there to carve, go there to market my work, take a seminar, teach - this is the first time I have been able to just sit with friends and yeow-yeow, or laze at the beach or sleep in for hours - all sans guilt. Amazing.
I'm enjoying Mexico. It's funny - I had never really been interested in going south of the border - I've always been a South Pacific-oriented kinda gal. So when my friend invited me to come here, I was excited to have a new adventure in a new place.
I speak barely passable Italian, so I understand most of what is being said around me - unless they speak fast and then it just sounds like Spanish machine gun fire! But getting stuff at stores and restaurants is relatively easy, and very inexpenisive. It's actually cheaper to eat out than in here in San Blas, so we've been able to enjoy lots of good meals in various restaurants. Fabulous, fresh seafood, fresh veggies and fruit. We take care of the bad-water thing by only drinking bottled water, coffe, tea or juices. I'm told the trick is to use bottled water for brushing teeth, and avoid getting shower water in your mouth. Works so far!
San Blas is a little dusty town in the left arm pit of Mexico - up from Puerto Vallarta about a three hour busride at the end of which I could only think, "where's the restroom???" Almost all public bathrooms are devoid of toilet covers and paper, so one must bring personal supplies and learn to have strong squat muscles - could be worse. I've seen dirtier places and less comfortable amenities!
I'm told that San Blas was overlooked by developers for Amercianizing since there are little bugs that descend in clouds at sunrise and sunset - and at full moon! - that they didn't want to bother fighting against for possession of the land. So it continues to be a fairly quiet and mostly old-time town - thank goodness! I dread the day when I will be able to be in Hong Kong or New York and not know the difference.
Lots of bikes, more cars every year - although they detest speeders, and have speed bumps about every four inches in the roads - even on the main roads coming here through the jungles and mountains. If you have a low-rider, forget your undercarriage!
So we walk almost everywhere - it's great. And for some reason, people walk down the center of the street, not on the sidewalks! They're all dug up anyway, with optic cable being laid. I hear that will be all sealed up, then they'll tear it all out again and layin new sewer systems....
Since these parts were the place where chocolate originated (called theobromide - soma of the gods), I'm surprised at the lack of good, dark chocolate. The only chocolate we can find is a very sweet, milk chocolate, or a syrup I have no idea what they do with - it's so sweet you could probably call it chocolate-flavored sugar syrup. I hear you can get a stash of dark chocolate in - get this - the Wal-Mart! - in a twon a ways from here. Bless Sam Walton....
The beach here is a one and a half-mile reach of brownish sand, a flat expanse about 300 meters wide depending on the tide, that stretches between 2 jetties. Hardly anyone on it right now (until next weekend when the holidays start), and occasional vaquarro (cowboy) on his horse. A row of lots of palapa restaurants (large, tall, wide grass shacks with tables, chairs, hammocks out front) along the sand to help quench thirst, fill bellies, provide shade for relaxing and reading books or lazing in hammocks.
Lots of diverse eco-systems, and there is one in particular south of here that apparently has 6 separate eco-systems in one tiny area centered around an old crater. This is one of the biggest birding areas in the world, with many birders coming for sighting tours.
We're staying in a little set of bungalows down near the beach. There are six suites of 2 rooms, with kitchen and bath. Very funky but homey and warm-feeling - the owners are really nice people who care that you get what you need. Imagine my surprise that the owner is a webmaster and has provided wireless internet access! No phone, but internet and Skype anywhere in the world. Funny, no?
Just taking the day off and walking along the beach, sitting all afternoon with people who come down every year from Canada, Alaska and other cold US parts has been new for me - I often kind of wake up and think, "Huh! What am I doing?!?" But it's fun and I'm enjoying meeting new people and finding out about them and what they do. A couple I spoke with yesterday had sold their beer and wine biz in Canada. You know me, I'm always getting people to think about writing their experiences and ideas down - so I suggested that stories about the characters who came in and out of their store would be a really fun book. We'll see if the idea germinates....
I'm slowly mentally going over the last couple years of my own biz, seeing where I want to shave away things I don't want to do anymore, where I want to shore up or strengthen, add new things - it's a process of sustained curiosity. I'm hoping I'll be ready when I get home in January to blast off right away - this hanging out can't last forever!
I'll write more soon - we're going to the dentist today - you can get top-notch dental work done for one tenth the price in the US! Then tomorrow to Tepik, the capital, to get our theobromide stash replenished!
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