31 December 2012 As much as the rain poured down yesterday, today everything is soaked in the sunshine pouring down. Perfect day to go beach. Before we came here, I checked the typical Baja weather patterns, then of course the forecasts on weather.com. Supposed to be about 80 degrees and sunny... Boy has that been wrong. Then just yesterday the forecast was for three solid days of rain. We'll see. The puddles of water from yesterday are slowly soaking in, no clouds on the horizon... we'll cross our fingers. And so far our luck is holding today, sun, calm. While this trip has been fun so far, and it is always interesting to see a new place, I think the take-away lesson I have learned here is that, for a winter beach trip, I need to be sure to look at places no further north than say, Cancun. Sweeping is almost a kind of national past time here, it seems. Lots of meticulous sweeping of sidewalks. Lest you think that is some sort of a denigrating statement, I would add that it is much more pleasant than our own, US obsession with blowing. At least the sweeping is quiet, and the trash, leaves and dirt are thrown into trash cans. Much better than my old neighbor who used to simply blow his leaves over onto my driveway. Anyway, we got hot rock massages in the morning, an hour for about $25 (USD). I thought it was OK, Gail thought it was pretty good. The massage lady is an ex-pat Canadian, been here three years. Rent for her modern, two bedroom condo on the beach (with pool & hot tub & view) is $1000 (US) a month, gas is $50 every two months, electric the same. She has no medical (does not pay into the system) but a doctor visit is under $5, with prescription perhaps $20 at most, and with stitches under $40. She has heard that some people are not happy with the system, but she herself thinks it is great. Affordable out of pocket health care. Nice. I am thinking: if the US raised my taxes 15% to pay for universal health care (which it wouldn't - none of the other countries' systems are that expensive) I would STILL be money ahead. Crazy. So, it turns out that today it is staying sunny, over 80 degrees and calm, so we head up to the beach after our massage. It is windy there, but warm in the sun. We are in front of Palapa Azul drinking special margaritas (with a little cactus juice in them... they are really really tasty and I am about to order a second) eating bbq shrimps (yummy! great spice!) and our usual guacamole. Now this is what we expected and came here for. Isla Espiritu Santo rides high across the water, I am totally entertained watching the pelicans swoop and dive, Gail is reading, I am writing... Now THIS is how you spend a winter break. A couple hours later I get my second margarita, Gail a piña colada, and I order a couple fish and shrimp tacos. The pelicans dive, my book is good, the margarita and piña colada great, and the tacos superb. This afternoon could just drag on forever. Up the beach are a bunch of campers, maybe twenty. Snowbirds from the US and Canada. In the Azul bar, some younger ex-pats are drinking and playing pool. Not a bad lifestyle. So I am thinking... (Uh-oh) This is great. Retirement, trailer, beach, great drinks, good food, but. BUT... But still, we prefer Europe. The wines, and the variety of food; the deep history and varied things in such short travel-spans. Mexico has been, and is really nice, but our trips to Europe have been amazing. Here it is more one dimensional, not as varied in food and drink. But for the here and now: once again the shrimp trumps the fish, no contest. I have to keep sober enough to remember to order shrimp, not fish, from now on. Well, somewhere after 6:00 we managed to make it home. A little rest and we head back out for New Years Eve. Lots of fireworks, a very loud, chest thumping, out of tune band yelling American pop tunes, after every song, "Thank you Mexicoooo!" Then switching over to Mexican songs; a light show, strobes, huge screen TV with a screen saver pattern swirling weirdly out of sync, big brass section, audience singing along, drunk guy next to us yelling something at me in rapid, slurred Spanish (but it is so loud I can barely even hear him, so I nod and smile; he sits back satisfied) crowds pressing in, tamales and drinks for sale everywhere. Now the band stops, the lead singer is talking and says "chee-wah-wah!" High pitched, and everyone laughs, so now he milks this one phrase and for the next five songs everything is "cheeeee whaaaaa whaaaaa" ( slow & low) and "chiwawa" fast and high and on and on... Somewhere in all this cacophony the new year arrives, and we walk home, exhausted. Prospero ano nuevo, 2013! |
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