fin de Sayulita

My last couple of days in Sayulita proved to be entertaining, as expexted.

Saturday was spent hiking to a hidden little beach well worth the walk through the jungle, the scaling of the rocks and the hot hot sand underneath our bare feet. Once we got to the little hidden paradise we realized that sometimes walking in the hot sun with sweat dripping down your face and back rewards you well in the end. The beach was essentially deserted with nothing but stretches of sand and huge rockas. The view was breathtaking with large rocks protruding out of the ocean and great mountains coming down to meet the sea. But alas, after our time in the sun, I realized that the hike back up the hill and through the jungle to get home made one glad that they had not drank a bunch of Pacifico's as I probably would still be down there. But the view was definitely worth a beer commercial...

The next evening I went with my friend Michael to the Sayulita fair. Apparently Sayulita days is coming up, so the fair is here for two weeks complete with carnival rides and food. I liken it to fairs we used to have, albeit in 1971 (a good year I might add). We first went and had dinner at one of the many vendors. We each had a gringa and a quesadilla, I still don-t know what the difference is between the two? Nonetheless, they were yummy in our tummy. One of the many great things about Mexico is you can bring beer about anywhere with you, so since the vendors don't serve alcohol you just go purchase your beer and bring it in with you. So as we sat there for what seemed like hours, talking, eating, and drinking our Ballenia we heard sudden shouting, swearing and footsteps running toward our end of the street. It seemed our waiter, drunk as he was, had gotten into a fight with someone. It took many to settle him down and finally they had to haul him off in the back of a pickup. It proved to be entertaining for us, but then we looked at each other in concern. Afterall, it was our waiter and we still had yet to pay.

After all of that, we decided to venture inside the huge carnival grounds, aka the athletic fields. Most of the rides and games were designed for the young ones...but never fear all of you older folk out there...Mexican fairs cater to you too. We were a little worried about getting more beer as it was Sunday and most of the liccores tiendas were closed, but as we ventured further into the fair we found the games designed for us, the alcoholics. The first game Michael played was throwing the dart at a board filled with playing cards, if you actually hit a playing card you won a prize...a beer. We were unsuccesful. But then we rounded another corner and the game of all games lost in America was there. Everything about it called my name, but also violated every American rule and regulation. The game is this, for 15 pesos you get three medium size rocks to throw at a board full of glass bottles sitting upside down on pieces of rebar, if you break a bottle your prize; a beer. Imagine the noise as people are hurling huge rocks with all of their strength against this board, glass breaking everywhere. They would stop the game every now and again so they could collect the rocks on the ground, as they walked in their thongs against massive piles of broken glass. Imagine that happening in good ol USA...I can picture every governing authority showing up from OSHA, to the lawyers representing them. Thankfully there was success on both of our ends so we were able to tilt back our Modelo as we walked the rest of the fair, wondering what our next game was to be.

After a late night, I was able to wake early, get packed and say my goodbyes. I was leaving town. Of course since I have a tendency to talk a lot...huh...hard to believe, I got on the road about noon. My next destination was LaManzinilla in the Barra de Navidad area. After I passed PV and came out of the winding road, I realized that I am starting to hit more of the Mexican Mexico. And I am thankful for my couple of weeks of Spanish as I think English will be less used and less understood. After a four hour drive I ended up in my new home for the next couple of weeks. There are tourists here, but not the same caliber of Puerto Vallarta or Sayulita. The town streets are all unpaved, no road signs exist and I certainly don't see any espresso stands (written with a bit of smug, a bit of concern) or any fancy art studios or jewerly studios. And the view from the beach, again breathtaking. I look forward to my next couple of weeks here and will keep you all posted on all that I see and do.