Keeping Tradition Alive...The Grande Finale of my Mexican Life

Our best laid plans all came true.  With our Mexican loving amigos, Mike and Dee who live in Zihuatanejo 8 months of the year,  Gene prepared our faithful "steed", our highly dependable but well-aged Ford Explorer with the Thule rack on the roof for added storage space and off we went to the "largest craft fair in Latin America".  This is my fifth time at the "Domingo de Ramos" fair and it has become for me, a tradition to mark the end of my Mexican life for another year.  

 

The drive itself is a welcome relief from the warm, humid air on the Southern Mexico coast.  Only 3 hours away, but several thousand feet above sea level, the pine trees and avocado plantations in the volcanic mountain-ringed town of Uruapan are just one indicator of the cultural variety that is in store for visitors to Michoacan.  Jacaranda trees in full bloom lined the bustling agricultural periphery, but as always we headed to our favorite lunch stop adjacent to Rio Cupatitzio's beautiful park,  the  Restaurant La Trucha. Their signature dish, trout with macadamia nuts put a smile on Mike's face and for me, the wonderful Guacayama drink that blends the regional Hass avocado with local citrus juices was perfect.  Delicious!

 

After checking in to our favorite Hotel Mi Solar in El Centro we began familiarizing ourselves with the layout of the fair...luckily tradition trumps novelty and familiar vendors of things small and large were in their usual locations.  It's a feast for the senses.

 

The next morning begins with a parade of artisans, so we threaded our way through the building crowds to find the perfect place to watch.   

 After the parade, the crowds line up outside the Casa de Cultura for entry into the juried competition.  The crème de la crème of art, grouped by gendre and bought up by the savvy shop owners, travellers who have come to Uruapan for this special opportunity. 

 

 A new addition to the fair this year was the music stage with a Mexican philharmonic orchestra playing at sunset while we dined at Hotel Plaza overlooking the lively street scene. 

 The full moon rising over the lights of the cathedral looked so beautiful.

 For many of the indigenous people, Palm Sunday is the focus.  Highly decorative weavings of palms and some with more of a "glitz" factor are lined up around the streets outside the churches. 

 And the ever popular demonstration and food court featuring locally prepared traditional foods was a crowd success...so successful that we decided to avoid the crowds this year and return next year with our Mexican friend Monica who will accompany us on our next tour focusing on the women's art and tradition of preparing foods over wood fired stoves.  Note the new effective blue and white corn being rolled on the metate for fresh woodfire grilled tortillas...hmmm...next year!

 Uruapan has just the right climate to grow plants that thrive in the cool, fresh air and daytime heat.  And just like the plants that abound...we too found the fresh air and beauty of the fair just the treat we needed to energize us to begin the pack up that ends my Mexican Life for this season.   

Back in Zihua, the sad reality is we have to say goodbye to friends and neighbours whom we love.  10 days from today we will once again bring Cori back to his adopted home of Canada.  I'm ready to begin becoming Canadian yet again....

Seeking first time experiences in our winter home during the "calm before the storm"

 

 

 

Two weeks to "D" day...departure from our winter home.  My mood alters between excitement to return to our beautiful Victoria home and family and friends; to realizations that what we experience here on a daily basis can't be replicated in Canada.  

 

Life here is full of sensory experiences; I wake to birds, feel the lovely warm breezes on bare skin, eat amazing foods, walk miles of unobstructed beaches, and find the simplicity and time to reflect.  The opportunity to observe family life in a community that despite pervasive negative experiences vibrates with life and happiness is missing in our summer homes; where we live in luxury homes and the streets are empty. 

 

On my morning walk today I observe a young father playing in the early morning light on our beach, Playa Madera where every night someone works their magic on yet another outstanding sand sculpture.

 



One of my yearly goals is walking Playa Blanca from Barra de Potosi to Playa Larga.   Gene can't do this walk, Cori is not as young as he once was, and guess what...neither am I!  So we do it in stages, breaking up the 10 miles of white sand with 4-6 mile stretches between favorite spots along "our beach".   On one of our recent beach forays to Barra de Potosi, our walk to the "pick up spot" I had one of my "first time experiences"  --- cowboys herding a reluctant bunch of Brahma cattle along the beach. 

 

 

Which brings me to the reason for this post, a fabulous day trip to Playa Viva.  I had first visited Playa Viva 4 years ago when the new eco-tourist resort opened along a remote stretch of beach 40 kms. south of Zihuatanejo.  We were reconnected when at the weekly Eco-Tianguis Sanka market, I began purchasing fresh kale and arugula from their farm.   I noticed that they promoted day excursions, so with Lynn and Barry, our ever ready Mexican loving friends along for the day, we headed south to check out the spot.   

 

Beginning with one of the most wonderful lunches prepared with locally grown and sourced food by Abraham, the friendly chef extraodinaire, it was a special day.   David Leventhal, the San Francisco owner of this special place has hired a wonderful staff who have created a near perfect spa-resort experience in a remote stretch of Guerrero.  I applaud his vision and only wish that my pocket book could afford a stay there on a regular basis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we wait for the "storm to begin".  Semana Santa and Semana Pascua, the 2 week period of Easter festivities for Mexicans begins this weekend.  Our little town has had a chance to breathe.... The beaches are quiet, the restaurants empty early, some have already closed for the season.  Yoga classes are winding down.  Shopkeepers are refilling their shelves.  The "extranjero's", winter visitors from Canada and USA are mostly gone except for the full and part time residents who have no desire to head back to the rat race north of here.    And the biggest tell tale sign is that Commercial Mexicana is again building mountains of stock for the expected onslaught.   We are taking advantage of the early days of the period to head inland to Uruapan to once again feel the magic of Michoacán artesanias at their best.  I've polled my friends and family for requests as I have almost no room left at the "inn" for new purchases,....so off we go on our final Mexican adventure weekend of the year.  

Que nos vaya bien!   

Spring fever....or you know it's time to head home soon when your closets are crying for help.

 

It's an official "trend", I clearly remember from last year.  I have reached the point where I open my closets, look at the sad and mottley mix of Mexican cotton, Canadian summer clothes and well worn bathing suit cover-ups, and decide "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR"!!  The only two pairs of "dress up" shoes I have both lying broken on my closet floor leave me wondering what to do....wander the hot streets trying to find a store that might potentially sell the size 9's my feet need, or just keep on wearing the rest of my sad and well-worn footwear until we leave in 4 1/2 weeks.  It's tempting to just let "nature take it's course" and dress "not to impress" for the next month, but I do have a reputation at stake and besides, supporting our local shops before the Easter crowds of Mexicans from the interior arrive might just be fun! 

Now shopping for oilcloth, that's another thing totally.  My friends joined me on a recent trip to Petatlan to re-stock our supplies for Sol Sisters' bags and some custom made makeup and travel bags for friends.  The clerks in the lovely tienda "La Popular" in Petatlan show me to their hidden stock in the back closet where we carefully coordinated the colors/trends we want to make for Spring. 

 

 

 We've had a busy but wonderful month full of friends, festivals and trips to our favorite places.  Jo and Gary, Lynn and Barry and Jane and Joe (all friends of ours for years) share our love for Zihuatanejo.  The food, the music, the beaches, the ocean and the people.  Thanks for spending your holiday time with us!  

 

What's left to do, see, taste, feel?  My annual trip to Uruapan,  Domingo de Ramos, Michoacán's state fair of artisans.  Our grand finale planned for April 11, and 12th thanks to Lynn and Barry's kind offer to dog-sit Cori and our friends Mike and Dee who want us to be their guides for this visual extravaganza.  Not focussed on shopping, although I have a small list of must have's from the beauty on display at the fair, I want to leave Mexico full of the wonder that is this country at it's best. 

We are staying longer this year, not arriving back to our Canadian home until April 26th.  I miss that home, our Victoria friends, our family and our garden....  But we have a clear purpose for our lengthened stay in Mexico.  We have pre-sold our small apartment which has given us so much joy and we have a final meeting to complete the sale scheduled for April 21st.  Mexico goes on vacation for the two weeks of Easter, Semana Santa and Semana Pascua, so we were lucky to have this meeting scheduled to do business while the rest of Mexico plays.   It just might be possible that I've had my fill of play this winter,...it's almost time to get back to the "other side of my life".  

 

 

The little town that "could"...celebrating when people dream big and make it happen

Being back in Zihuatanejo since mid-February and spending most of that time entertaining friends by visiting our favorite places in and around town has kept me busy.  Apologies for a lack of blog posts, just know that I love observing my surroundings and my mind is constantly evaluating what we have and where we have chosen to spend so much of our time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have delighted in the joyous welcome homes (Bienvenidos regressa a su casa!) from our Mexican friends in Colonia La Madera and our Nino's Adelante family, and have shared many a happy photo evening around our big screen TV showing a carefully chosen subset of Gene and my photos to those interested in seeing what life is like in the country just south of us.  A country that shared it's indigenous Mayan routes with the southern part of Mexico, where we love to visit. 




I had a lot of surprises on my first trip to Guatemala, not the least of which was the fantastic and well developed system of transporting tourists to the far reaches of the mountainous, jungle and coastal edges of a diverse country.  I found myself wondering -  why not here in Zihuatanejo?  We have villages nearby (Barra de Potosi, Troncones) where restaurateurs and shopkeepers would love to have day visitors from Zihua arrive and depart from with predictable regularity.  The villages around Lake Pazcuaro, our Michoacán tourist destination,  would benefit greatly if tourism was organized to easily and safely transport visitors around and shuttle them from artisan's homes to hotels like we saw in Guatemala.   What is it that has prevented Zihuatanejo from flourishing like we had originally expected when we purchased our first apartment here 10 years ago?  Why does our town suffer from seriously outdated and non-functional infrastructure, only one travel agent who does not seem to particularly want business, ongoing issues related to safety and security and poorly maintained common areas that are not attractive to visitors?  I'm frankly sick of looking at garbage dropped anywhere and everywhere there isn't a garbage can at arm's length.  Don't get me wrong, Mexico has come a long way since our early years of travel here but in certain things there is a backwards mentality that hasn't shifted at all.  

Recently, the city announced the near completion of the new "parque lineal", a paved walking path along the Canal, La Boquita, which serves as a necessary overflow catchment system during rainy season, and other than that, seems to collect garbage during the dry season waiting for the annual Spring clean up by the ayuntamiento.   This path is a huge improvement for those of us who used to navigate broken sidewalks, dog poop laden paths or sewage run off on the opposite side of the street to walk the 3 kms to our large, modern grocery store.  And there seems to be a few dozen exercise equipment stations awaiting final installation.  This should be a good news story,but mostly it is greeted with sceptisim and criticism by locals and tourist extranerjo's alike.   Mostly, the conversations go like "who's brother got paid off to put that in", and "it's another monument to a corrupt politician who just needs to show off".   And that doesn't even factor in the most realistic concerns, which are  who will maintain the equipment and what will the humid, salt laden air do to all that steel? 



So, this brings me to the purpose of my post, which is that despite a pervasive attitude of skepticism,  diminishing volunteers and settings to host such events (some of the key local music venues have closed their doors this season), the Zihuatanejo International Guitarfestival is once again underway!  The "Little Town that Could" is shining with the brightest of stars.  We are so proud of Playa La Madera, the host site for the opening and closing concerts featuring a worldwide array of talented musicians, and a nightly concert of at least 3 performances.  We can walk to the venue, bring our little buddy Cori, and generally feel ever so proud of our home in the tropics. 

Today, we say goodbye to Jo and her new boyfriend Gary who have shared our home for the past week.  We welcome our good friends Lynn and Barry back to our rental apartment.  They are our final tenants of the season and indeed our final tenants as immediately following their departure, our apartment sale finalizes and we are no longer landlords in Zihuatanejo.  For 6 years we've enjoyed maintaining, equipping and renting our previous apartment to friends from near and far who love Zihua like we do.   Beginning next season, we will only have our own home here in Casa Ceiba, and our lives will be a little freer, a little less complicated and at the same time, a little more open to new endeavors, new challenges and new opportunities.  Viva Mexico and Vive Salud!!

A few days on "the other side"

Remembering the words of my good friend Helga who has lived in some of Africa's many countries; she would have said what we had seen so far in the cool, colonial, historic Spanish areas of Guatemala was for "the sissies".  

Emerging from our overnite bus ride in Santa Elena and arriving in Flores; our chosen base for seeing Tikal felt like we were in a new country.   Our bare bones hotel did nothing to cheer our spirits as we waited in the warm, grey skied early morning air for our pre- arranged day trip to Tikal. 

Not a cappuccino maker insight.  Suddenly no one was wearing the beautiful traditional huipiles, woven belts and skirts...we were in the land of t-shirts and modern clothes, courtesy of Walmarts in the U.S. 

Luckily the five hours we spent in the beautiful jungle and majesty of the enormous Tikal ruins cured us of our overnite bus funk and we began to see the best of Peten department.Note* Departments in Guatemala are the equivalent of States or Provinces. 

The people, the tranquility, and frankly some great little restaurants along the islands waterfront and crisscrossing streets charmed us.  We also learned that Lake Peten Itza has no rivers running in or out and rises with the frequent rains for 50 years; and then slowly drains back to a low level.  Waterfront houses; businesses and transport all know their days are limited as the water is on the rise. 

Personally escorted to the shabby bus station after 2 nights in our barely adequate hotel; a near tragedy of a lost camera/passport recovered with the immediate assistance of yet another kind stranger and we left Rio Dulce for the remote Caribbean corner of Izabal department.

Two and a half hours of a covered high speed panga boat ride up the scenic Rio Dulce and we arrived at Livingston...the remote region of Garifuna culture unique to this area.   A sidenote- our boat was full to overflowing with travelers of all ages and from all countries.  Backpacks were stuffed in the bow and in an unusual display of safety concerns we were held at the dock until 5 passengers were asked to unload with their various gear.  The still crowded boat left the dock with all lifejackets hanging on the rack on the shore.

Livingston is a scenic place.   I had read that the local specialty was "tapado" a coconut/curry fish stew with plantain...so based on Trip Advisor, we dined at the highly rated but incredibly spartan waterfront restaurant ranked #1.  Not quite a foodies dream, but very tasty and very laid back! 

Day 2 here and rather than commit to a full day on a boat trip, we decided to get up early to see a Caribbean sunrise and walk the streets in the safety of daylight.


 Last evening while strolling through town after dinner, in one of my lesser moments of wisdom, I had let my desire for adventure overcome both my intuition and Gene's attempted warnings.  One of Livingston's many poor black men had lured us with the promise of a chance to hear authentic "punta" music in an area off the tourist streets.  Luckily it only cost us 30 quetzales and we were able to walk away to an area that felt safe.  It could have turned out much differently.  An ex-pat who observed part of our predicament explained it.  There are no jobs for most of the people who live here.  So this one man; obviously very poor, hungry and perhaps with addictions had made himself a job....being very friendly and having just the perfect tale of his family's music school...and I came along!

At about the closest to the sea beach table we've ever had we treated ourselves to fresh ceviche and the cuddly hugs of the owners new pup.

Tomorrow we start our long journey home; boat, bus, two flights and an equally cuddly dog waiting for our return.  May our good fortunes here take us safely home. We are ready!