Reflecting my vacation pt. 1

Jan. 29th
When we were leaving the airport heading for Tuxtla we passed under a bridge. Painted on the side was Bienvenidos a Chiapas Tierra de Oportunidades. That’s how I feel. Here is different and here is the same but the point is that here there are many opportunities for me. So much has happened the past week in Mexico. Alica has taken us many amazing places and we have had a fantastic time. I love Mexico – there is so much to love, so much to see, so much to experience. I guess it’s like that anywhere, just here I feel like opening. I feel like the flower that wants to expose it’s insides to the sun. All the soft inner petals…I want Mexico to touch those parts. I think before when I was here I focused on the differences between what I was used to and what was here. This time is so different. I was just open. I’m not really picking out the differences or the similarities, nor ignoring them. Just appreciating what is.

Our itinerary for the past week is this:
We left Guadalajara and headed for Puerto Vallarta. We spent three nights there at a hotel by the beach. Then we headed north a little to Guayabitos where Alica’s uncle has a hotel and we stayed there two nights. Then we went to Alica’s hometown, Tepic, for two nights, back to Guadalajara for a night and the next night we took the bus to Mexico City. Spent part of that night and one more night in the city and flew today from Toluca to Tuxtla.

Now let me fill in the blanks. We left Guadalajara after we had sorted out our accommodation. After we took a taxi to the west end of the city we got on a very luxurious bus and headed for the beach. Muy exitando! When we arrived in Puerto Vallarta we met Emma (I nannied for her in Fernie) and I got to see her and the babies which was fantastic. Afterwards we went to our hotel. Much to our luck and Alica’s connections we got a good deal and one day free if we stayed for 3 days. So we did. That evening we went to the beach and chased the waves. How I love the ocean.

When you look at the ocean there are many things to feel. Connected – to all the other humans and living things on the earth connected by the vast expanses of water. Small – you realize how very little you are in the world, but know everyone else is in the same position and the stars wouldn’t be so fantastic if each star didn’t shine it’s brightest right? Peace – that something so large is capable of sharing with you and your life. Happiness – to just be, to see to hear, to feel.
I love the ocean.

After we played in the waves and had some guys invite us to go out with them (we politely declined and Alica decided that the next time we ran into persuasive males she would pretend she didn’t speak Spanish.) We went to the ‘main street’ in Puerto Vallarta. It’s right by the water with lots of bars, shops and tourists. In the square a sister (violinist) and her brother (piano and beats) were performing. After we ate some corn, crepes and fruit from the vendors we listened to them perform until about midnight. They are very talented. After that we walked about and checked out the entertainment elsewhere on the street. We went to bed really early. ;)

The next day we spent walking downtown looking around both new and old P.V. I bought a pair of shoes, for salsa. They are not perfect but they were very cheap, the heel is perfect height and they have straps…what else could one hope for? Along the way Karyn found a dress she liked. On the way back we planned to stop and look at it. When we got outside the store the woman she had been dealing with before saw her and came running, showing her many of the beautiful dresses. Karyn and I both tried the one we liked on. We decided to purchase them. The woman thanked us very much and Alica for translating. She told Alica her story of coming so far from her country to be here, about her many children, and how that nobody had been buying anything and she had to borrow 20 pesos to buy something for her little girl. 20 pesos. It’s a pittance to us, but to her it meant food for her 3 year old. It was so moving. You feel so disgusted sometimes at the injustice of the world, but even more that you are a part of it. Everything I do affects someone else and I never will make perfect decisions. I just hope that in my little place I can do something to make a difference for someone else. This is the purpose of our natural life I think - To touch others and to let them touch us. It is through sharing and helping and giving that we can experience the true meaning of being human.

After our sober afternoon we enjoyed some chill time and went out on the town again. Alica and I – Karyn wasn’t feeling well so she stayed in. We went to a Cuban bar with live salsa and had a great time dancing. I am now able to dance with a partner and follow! Yay! It was a lot of fun and the music was really great.

The next day we were supposed to meet a surfer we met the previous night. He had promised Alica and I that we would be standing and so of course we were super excited. Unfortunately he is English and the cell phone situation was not spectacular. We ended up going by ourselves to Sayulita and enjoying a nice relaxing day on the beach. I fell asleep and so I acquired some very interesting burn lines. At the end of the day it got cloudy and I went to get a cappuccino. A lovely guy named Jose (Pepe) made it for me. (More on him later J)

We headed back to Puerto Vallarta in good time and spent our last night on the town again. It’s not a big place and we ran into Dave (the surfer) again. To avoid phone troubles we arranged to meet him at the bus to Sayulita at noon the next day. At the last minute he appeared, which was fortunate for us because we learned how to surf! He turned out to be a fantastic teacher and I stood up the first wave I caught! Alica did fantastic as well and he said we were in the top 5% of people he taught. As you can imagine we were pretty thrilled with that. Surfing is so much fun. Alica and I have decided that whenever we have a chance we are going to the beach. From here to a good beach is probably 6 hours or more by if we leave after class Friday we can get there in decent time. We are also thinking about buying a surfboard but we’ll keep renting for awhile anyways. It’s pretty cheap, or it was in Sayulita - $20US aprox. Per day.

That day in Sayulita we had all our luggage with us (just the stuff we had been carrying from Guadalajara) and so Karyn sat with it awhile but eventually we were like let’s put all our valuables in Alica’s red suitcase and lock it. If someone wants to run off with a red suitcase we are going to see it from the water. And all was well J That night we left Sayulita early because we had to walk out to the highway to catch the bus to Guayabitos. There is always a bus right from town into P.V. but not the other way. We decided to play it safe and leave in the light. It was a good plan. We got to Guayabitos in good time, finally found Alica’s uncle’s hotel and were set up for the night. We have been so lucky this trip. Rarely have we had to pay for accommodation and we have seen so many wonderful places.

The next day we headed back to Guayabitos to, you guessed it, SURF! However, the weather wasn’t really in our favour. It was windy and therefore the waves were more powerful and came more quickly. It was tough to even get out to a place to catch a wave. After awhile I just decided to go in. I sat in the coffee shop (where I met Jose) and drank a mocha. He was there and so we communicated as much as we could. When Alica came in for a drink I told her about my little crush on him and so with a little persuasion I allowed her to ask him if he wanted to go for a walk with me after he finished work. Miracle or miracles he did. We walked along the stormy beach and did our best to communicate in Spanish. Whenever he spoke too fast I would make him write it in the sand. We had a great time. When we got back to the coffee shop and were waiting to meet Alica and Karyn he tried to teach me some capoeira. It is a Brazilian marital arts/ dance form. It involves such moves as doing standing still back flips or using one hand as a pivot point for many crazy flips. So far I am having problems just doing the basic step.

When Alica and Karyn finally came back, we went out for dinner. Jose had already made me a sandwich so I just had a few drinks. He was so sweet. He paid for not only my drinks, but Alica and Karyn’s meal as well. We stayed too late and had to make our way to the highway to catch the bus back to Guayabitos. Lucky for us Jose came with us in a taxi, paid for our taxi, and stood on the side of the dark highway with us waiting to flag down the bus. After he knew we were safely on the bus he walked back into town. Amazing guy. I hope he comes to visit me here.

The next day we basically ate chilaquiles for breakfast. Surprise, surprise ;). Then we debated whether we were going surfing again (Alica and I really wanted to) or go to Tepic. We thought that Karyn may have broken her toe surfing the day before and so with that on our conscience we decided to skip the beach and head straight to Tepic.