Life flies by in Puerto Escondido

Jan 11 – Hey today would be my dad’s 73rd birthday. Hard to believe it was 19 years ago this year that we lost him to cancer. We are remembering you today, Dad. It’s a day to go for a long run in the morning, watch some football in the afternoon, and eat ice cream at night. As I’m paying attention to dates, only 9 days until the inauguration of our new president! We will try to watch the event live on the television next door.

Jan 14 - Well… what is life like here in Puerto Escondido? On the surface, it looks tranquil and easy, but if you look closely, it is bustling with activity. Imagine staring at the palm tree next to you from your hammock, and upon closer inspection, notice its trunk covered with ants. That’s what it’s like here. True, everywhere you look you can find ants, but on a human scale, everyone is working and busy selling, moving, washing, cleaning or building something. A walk into town reveals a new paved street here, a torn up sidewalk there, a new restaurant, a closed business, one day the store has limes, the next day it doesn’t. The size of the waves, the slope of the sand on the beach, the wind, the clouds, the humidity, the clarity of the water…these things are never the same. However, we can count on hearing the roar of the surf, breezes in the morning, and stunning sunsets just after 6pm. We’re taking it all in.

We’re also enjoying the arrival of more friends we’ve met here over the years, which add walks along the beach, dinners, swims, dance classes or just visiting by the pool to our social calendar. Friends from Canada, CA, TX, NY, ID, and NC are all repeats like us. Although food is cheap and delicious here, we prefer shopping, cooking and eating at home over going to a restaurant, so we try to limit our dinner dates to about twice a week.

This morning as I checked the sunrise from the rooftop, 2 wonderful things happened. First, I saw a whale calf jump completely out of the water followed by the black rising back of its mother. Shortly after that, a beautiful orange streak backed oriole landed in the flowers in front of me. I take them as omens, each for a significant event that should happen today.

The first event is one we’ve been anticipating for over a week. We live in a 6 unit apartment building with 3 lower units and 3 upper units. We’re on the end of the lower units. As soon as Frank and Vanessa left, “the LOUD family” moved in two doors down. Two adults and two kids rapidly shouting in whiny voices, which alerted us that they were not speaking Spanish. When each syllable dropped off an octave, it was a dead give away – Italiano! Today is the day they move out! Our other neighbors speak French and are pretty mellow. They’ve been coming here from Quebec for the past 3 years as well and prefer a tranquilo atmosphere as well.

The next event is the best of all. I have gone 6 weeks now without a wireless connection on my computer and possibly today I will be able to connect from my room. I challenge any of you to see what kind of inner turmoil you can inflict by disconnecting yourself from the Internet for 6 weeks.

Our days here go by quickly. We rise early to exercise while there are still breezes and before the sun is too strong. We usually have a large breakfast, able to buy our fresh ingredients from the local tiendas in the neighborhood. We chat it up with Fabiola, our favorite maid, I do some work, we do chores, read, run errands, or get together with friends and before you know it, it’s time to watch the sunset and eat dinner. Of course, there are interruptions throughout the day, to watch the iguanas on the wall, or the orioles that come to the window next door and sing to their own reflection. I’ve put up a hummingbird feeder and it’s starting to get some action. All is well…
(Photos: 1. Caution, hole in the road 2. A friendly grazer by the river 3. Helping the fisherman bring in his net)