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.