Nieto (grandson) Jordan...part one

In our attempt to give our grandson, Jordan, a taste of Mexico that will leave him wanting more, we are doing our best to expose him to all sorts of experiences. So far it seems to be working.

Jordan is 14 and arrived here on January 11^th. This was his first ever airplane ride (Quote: “Flying is awesome!”). His first ever trip out of the States. His first extended trip away from home. Chris & I have wanted to have him visit us while we are in Mexico ever since we started this cruising thing in 2008 but until now it just couldn’t be done. This year Jordan is doing school on-line so the ability to “bring school along” made all the difference.

As soon as Jordan arrived we began indoctrinating into the wonders of Mexico. We are in La Cruz, which is a wonderful little town that is quiet, friendly and safe. There are no paved streets or traffic lights and is really pretty much the picture of a sleepy Mexican pueblo (village). Add to that the fact that the beach is mere steps from the boat and you see why we thought this was the perfect place to begin showing him around the country.

Since Chris & I have been here long enough to be used to some of the odd sights and sounds you encounter here, it is fun to see them again through new eyes. One of the things we hear often is “Boy, you'd never see that back home." This is applied to all sorts of everyday sights: a pickup truck with kids in the bed driving down the highway, a car stopping to wait while a little dog finishes pooping in the middle of the road, ATV’s being driven on the street, military personnel carrying large automatic weapons as they shop in Walmart, and so many more. Since they are under a system of Napoleonic law here (if you do something stupid and get hurt it isn’t someone else’s fault) there is not much in the way of litigation and there isn’t exactly a plethora of laws to “protect” people from one another (or themselves). In many ways it is like being transformed back to the 50’s in the States.

Another thing that we are having a great time with is introducing Jordan to many of the wonderful tastes of Mexico. He is a real fan of “hot” stuff so is pretty much our tester for salsas when we go out to eat. One of the nice things is that he is not like most 14-year-old boys and is extremely adventurous. His first meal here was pescado frito (fried fish). Of course, he thought this would be deep fried fish sticks just like in the States. Not so much! It is actually a whole red snapper that has been scored and fried on a grill. This is one of Chris’ favorite foods so he was delighted when Jordan dove right into it and loved it. We have taken him to fancy restaurants and street taco vendors and he consistently tries new things…so different from most teen aged kids. So far the only food he doesn’t care much for is jicama.

As you can imagine, keeping a 14-year-old from getting “bored” can be a bit of a project. So far I think we are doing pretty well. He can walk to the beach or town any time he wants. A week ago, Chris hired a panga to take the two of them out fishing and they had a great time and came back with 5 Sierra and a (very small) Grouper. It sounded like a good time was had by all and that evening we had our friends, Michael & Rene from Ahea Kali, over for fish dinner. We went to Sayulita for a day where we watched the surfers (and young girls in bikinis) and had lunch on the beach. Thursday our friends, Michael & Gabrielle from Portland, arrived for a two week visit and today they & Jordan are out zip-lining through the jungle like a pack of Tarzans.

Last week was the blessing of the fleet in Bucerias so we bused over there for brunch at a 2^nd story restaurant overlooking the beach. There was a parade, fireworks and the town was full of tourists and locals alike. The highlight, of course, was the pangas that come flying in through the surf and onto the beach. Even though Chris & I have witnessed these guys doing this it is still amazing…especially given our history of not-so-graceful surf landings in our dinghy. It was amazing to us that no one got run over since the beach was packed with people but these drivers are very, very good.

I must say that having Jordan with us has been a real pleasure. He is so grown up for his age and just delightful to be around. All our cruiser friends who have met him enjoy him immensely as well. One of the first things Chris did was teach Jordan to drive the dinghy and that has been a real hit. At first he was required to row the Walker Bay for 30 minutes to earn an hour of time on the inflatable but now that he has worked himself into position as chauffer and errand runner we’ve slacked off on the rowing requirement. He’s even been chauffeuring other cruisers around from time to time.

We will be leaving here Wednesday to head south so there will be lots of new experiences in store in the places we visit there. Stay tuned for further adventures.

Another Small Character Flaw?

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am a serious bibliophile (bibliophile: lover of books). Some might even call my affection for the printed word a bit of an obsession. I’m not afraid to admit it. I love books. I love to look at them, to hold them in my hands, to smell that inky odor of the printed page, and, especially, to read them. Nothing is as soothing to me as curling up with a good book and letting the world run without my influence.

When I had a house on dirt, every main room had at least one bookcase and all of them were tightly packed with books that had been or were waiting to be read. Moving onto the boat caused no little anguish on my part as I was forced to find homes for quite a number of my inanimate friends. Still…there is no shortage of reading material on the boat. At the moment there are around 150 books (not counting the reference books) in residence, most of which are as yet unread.

Bookstores have always been a real problem for me. I can spend days perusing the shelves for new items to add to my collection. Powell’s City of Books in Portland (OR) is a particular roadblock. The main store encompasses an entire city block and is several stories tall. They carry many thousands of new and used books and especially refreshing is that they emphasize non-main stream books. Walk into any Barnes & Noble or Borders and the same “best sellers” will be prominently displayed just inside the door and on tables throughout the stores. Powell’s is more likely to exhibit books that are written by obscure or local authors. Publications that the big box stores often don’t even carry. Not to say I shop there exclusively because no bookstore is exempt. It’s just that, since I love discovering new authors and their works, I am likely to be “stuck” in Powell’s for a much longer period of time.

I have to admit that I have a few odd “quirks” when it comes to my books. First of all, I don’t like junk. To me, romance novels, mysteries and many of the high profile “best seller” novels are unbelievable drivel. That is not to say I don’t enjoy the efforts of Stephen King, John Irving, Anne Rice or Barbara Kingsolver but, quite honestly, if I never read another Danielle Steele or James Patterson (who apparently is incapable of writing without a co-author) I will survive quite well. My preference is fiction but non-fiction, biographies, real life adventures and travel writing also have their appeal…as long as they are well written. If the author doesn’t give his/her reader credit for having some intelligence I’m not interested.

I also have a rather bizarre need to finish a book in the same pristine condition it was in when I first purchased it (except, of course, used books). This becomes a bit of a problem when friends borrow books as others often don’t have the same respect (obsession?). It just drives me nuts when I see people bending pages down, highlighting or making notes and breaking the backs of books. I know…it is a little crazy. I’m trying to quit.

During my younger days I was stuck hard in the belief that once begun a book must be finished…no matter how bad or boring it was. Finally…I have reached a turning point. It finally dawned on me that if the author was not able to ignite my interest in the first 50 or so pages it isn’t likely to happen so the book goes to the local exchange and I am on to something new.

So what, you may ask, have I read of late that is good? At the top of the list is “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts. It was a very long book (almost 1,000 thin pages with small print) and took two months for me to get through it but the writing is stunningly beautiful and the story is riveting. This is the author’s first book and there were many, many passages I re-read and shared with Chris because they were so beautifully written.

Well, that is the latest, except to say how blessed I feel to have found and married a man who is as hooked on reading as I am. Chris, though, has gone to the dark side and purchased a Kindle. It isn’t the same as a “real” book but he seems to enjoy it…except when the battery dies!

Spanish Lessons

I am sooooo excited! I started a Spanish class yesterday and am finally learning how to actually make sentences!
I have been doing the Rosetta Stone thing for two years now and, between that and my "esposo" and just plain paying attention I've learned a lot of words. Words are helpful but, unfortunately, they do not conveniently place themselves at your disposal when you need them and they especially do not put themselves into proper sentences so that people can get a clue about what you are attempting to tell (or ask) them.
Since Chris speaks fluent Spanish he has become a very convenient crutch for me. Any time I don't understand what someone is trying to tell me he is there to interpret. Nice to know I have the help but not terribly conducive to actually l-e-a-r-n-i-n-g the language.
Philo's (one of the cruiser "hang outs" in La Cruz) has a language teacher (who speaks multiple languages) who gives Spanish lessons for a minimal donation to his charity fund. Philo is a huge philanthropist and has a great fund that he uses to help the needy in this community (and there are many). Andrea has many years experience in teaching languages but donates her time in exchange for a 50 peso donation (about $4 US) per class to Philo's fund as a way of giving back to the community she lives in as well. It is a win win for everyone.
So...just in the first class I learned all sorts of things I didn't know, not the least of which is how to correctly say "Hello" (it is different depending on the time of day and who you are talking to) "My name is..." and "good bye" (again...not just adios). I am so excited to think that MAYBE one of these days soon I will be able to have a real conversation with one of the people I say "hola" to every day and we will be able to actually understand each other.

Happy Holidays!

Once again we are beginning a new year in La Cruz…one of the places we like to call “home”. We have finally gotten far enough south that we are seeing daytime temperatures in the 80’s and we were able to take one of the blankets off the bed at night. Whoo hoo!

Pat & Mary joined us in Mazatlan just before Christmas. Mary has flown down from Vancouver (WA) to spend the holidays with us for the past 3 years but this was Pat’s first trip. If she’s not having a great time it isn’t for lack of trying. We’re doing our best to show off “our little corner of the world”. Christmas in Mazatlan was lovely but the highlight was the cruiser’s dinner/dock party complete with turkey and all the trimmings. Bonnie (S/V Murray Grey), Janet (S/V Optical Illusion) and Fran (S/V Gosling) prepared the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy while the rest of us brought salads, sides and desserts. Jean-Guy (Fran’s hubby) even provided a tub of “Moose Milk”. He says this is a traditional Christmas drink in Canada. I don’t know what was in it but it was smooth and delicious and definitely alcoholic. About 25 cruisers from the U.S. and Canada were there so plenty of story swapping, future plan sharing and good wishes were happening.

The day after Christmas we all got busy washing and cleaning the boat, filling the water tanks and getting things organized and tied down for the trip to La Cruz. We were finished by noon-ish so grabbed the Mexican Train game and headed for Gus y Gus, the restaurant at the top of the ramp, for lunch and Margaritas. Margaritas and Mexican Train can easily be a lethal combination but hey…the sun was shining…we were wearing shorts…the work was done…and we could walk home.

Next morning we cast off and headed out into nice, calm seas and light wind to make our way to La Cruz. It is a passage of about 30 hours and we set up a watch schedule where Chris & I would each stand 3 hour watches with Pat and Mary sharing a 2 hour period in the middle. The trip went well and we had lots of entertainment on the way. Not long after we left Mazatlan a large pod of dolphins came and swam with us for a good 30 minutes. Mary & I sat on the bow watching as they did their synchronized swimming routine back and forth under and around the bow. There were probably 20 or so in the group and it appeared to be mostly moms & babies as there were lots of “kids” playing. A little later we had our first whale sighting and it turned out to be a Gray. This was the first Gray I’ve seen and it was quite close to the boat so was pretty exciting.

The night was, thankfully, quiet and uneventful and morning brought glassy seas and no wind again so we kept on motoring all the way to Punta de Mita (an anchorage in the NW corner of Bahia de Banderas). If it weren’t for the critters it would have been a bit boring but they showed up and kept us entertained for most of the trip. The Manta Rays were busy doing back flips and acrobatics while the Bat Rays would just swim lazily past the boat with just their wingtips showing. The girls thought they were seeing shark fins until we made them look closer and they could make out the entire diamond shape of the rays. Lots of sea turtles were seen bobbing past (we stopped counting at 15), many of them with birds resting on their shells. It is great to see the turtles coming back, especially after having the opportunity to release some of the babies last year. As we got closer we got to Banderas Bay, we began to see the amazing Humpback Whales who come here every year to calve and breed. I was thrilled to see my first full breech and there was plenty of other surfacing and slapping the water with those big fins they have to keep us on alert.

We arrived in Punta de Mita about 4pm, anchored, opened a bottle of wine and threw some chicken on the barbeque while we watched a beautiful sunset. Following dinner we were on to another rousing game of Mexican Train. Mary suggested a “tournament” when they first arrived so that is what we are doing…so far I am in the lead. About halfway through the game we heard a “Pan Pan” on the radio. This means someone is in trouble and needs help. It turned out that a boat that was about ½ mile from shore had an engine that wasn’t working and there was no wind so he couldn’t sail. He was understandably worried about running aground. Chris & I launched the dinghy and went out to try to find him. I must admit it is kind of scary being that far from land in a dinghy at night but we knew if we were in his position we’d want someone to help us. We never did locate him but were in radio contact continuously until a panga from La Cruz found him and towed him in. He said he was very thankful just knowing someone was out there. Coming back into the anchorage we discovered that it is trickier than one would think to find your boat with a backdrop of big resorts all lit up on shore. We told Pat & Mary to turn on all the lights and stand on the bow waving flashlights and that did the trick. The new LED running lights, in particular, are so much brighter that they were a big help.

Next morning we were up early to scoot around the corner to La Cruz and by 10am we were in our slip. The girls have 3 more days and we intend to keep them busy. Today they off on a “booze cruise”!