A Week of Mazatlan Magic

 What could be more fun than showing off our beloved city to our beloved sister-in-law?????


When Hannah arrived, we pretty much had her life planned out for her for a whole week.  Well, not only did we do most of what we planned, but leave it to her to find some amazing stuff to do on her own! 

We spent quite a bit of time in the old part of the city in and around the Plazuelo Machado.  We made friends with one of the local artists, had our hearts tugged by 2-week old kittens (I want one), experienced some amazing modern dance at the theater, ran into friends we knew, and walked, walked, walked.....

We took her to our favorite restaurant downtown, found the best ice cream in the city - possibly the world (I had sesame in one hand and avocado in the other!) and checked out the little shops and boutiques.  We certainly did our part to support the local economy.

We did not spend much time at home during the week (although we would try to sneak in naps whenever possible.  And, interestingly, the internet hardly worked while she was here, so we felt like we were definitely in our own little world.

Dia de los muertos

 

Mexico is ground zero for the Day of the Dead.  They don’t have much in the way of trick or treating although you see a lot of American influence in the stores.  However, the richest part of this tradition is alive and well in Mazatlan.  It covers a couple of days (November 1 & 2).  

Last night, we were so honored to attend a celebration of the Journey to Mictlan – land of the dead.  

As we made our way to the gathering, we passed altars set up outside of people’s homes – complete with photos, candles, food and drink, flowers….. so beautiful. And we passed people carrying flowers to the cemetery.
  Our hostess was our dear friend Flor.  She set up a beautiful traditional altar in her courtyard on Stone Island.  The four elements were represented as well as the journey from the tree of life to Mictlan.  As we were sitting and sharing, we could hear the approach of a parade – a band and a procession of about 20 young people carrying candles.  They stopped at every altar and honored it with a song.  When they arrived at Flor’s place, they came into the courtyard and serenaded and shared pan de muerto (bread of the dead) with us.  It was magical.  Then, off they went to the next altar.

We were also blessed to celebrate the night of Samhain (Halloween) – with a small circle of friends right here at the RV park.  We had an altar set up with jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, marigolds, lots of candles….  And we shared ancient traditions of a different sort.

What a great life. 

One Month Report

One month ago today, we said goodbye to our little blue bus and hit the road.  We had a leisurely 6 day journey to Mazatlan – no drama, no surprises…  We took advantage of the hot springs in T or C, slept a couple of nights on the beach in Puerto Penasco, watched baseball playoffs in lots of different towns.

Because of our early arrival, we were able to watch our end of town come to life.  Our first drive through of the area brought us through a ghost town – nothing was open…  One by one, we watched things open up (and found ourselves to be the first customers in several of the places….).   One of the fun perks of being here before any of our regular places were open is that we got to check out 3 new restaurants.  All of them have turned out to be excellent discoveries.

A big part of our Mazatlan experience is the food.  That is one of the reasons that our first couple weeks here were kind of an adjustment.  I fasted for 3 days at the beginning and Hal was definitely on half rations those same days.   We threw ourselves into unpacking and setting up and then threw ourselves in an extreme opposite direction with the full moon on the beach. 

It took a while to adjust to the heat and humidity.  Never was I so grateful for our sweet little air conditioner.  It has made all the difference.  Every day, I can spend a little more time outside.  The beginnings of a garden are happening.

We have reconnected with almost all of our Mazatlan friends.   It warms the heart to know that they are as happy to see us as we are to see them.  And it is fun to hear about everyone’s summer experiences.  We are coming from the worst drought we have ever seen and they have just experienced the wettest August in a while….. 

We have watched our end of town slowly open up.  Cafes and restaurants are almost all back up and running.  We were sad to see that our pescaderia (fish market) was not able to make a go of it.  But so far, all of our friends are back in business. The economy is still struggling with even less tourism in sight.  But these people are a resilient breed.  From what we observe as we explore, the money from the city coffers is going into new schools and keeping the city clean and beautiful.

The city also continues to offer lots of amazing cultural/art events – we attended a wonderful concert last week with Abed Azrie (nope, we had never heard of him, but it was pretty awesome).

Hal has already overseen work on the bus (brake lines) and on the truck (air conditioning), tried out his boogie board, done 2 tarot readings, has been swimming a lot and has ridden his beloved bike.  He has a sweet little coconut station by our “shed”.

Last year, coconuts were a huge discovery for us.  This year, we are adding guava to the list.  I love this tropical life.

And we have already started our little road trips – we went into the mountains last week and checked out Concordia and Copala – old mining towns.  Lovely scenery.

So far, we know that November will bring us our first visitor, our sis Hannah!  But enough for now.  We’re off for a cuppa joe at the Looney Bean. 

Miss you and love you.

Into the Mountains!

 We took our first road trip of the season yesterday - into the mountains.  It was a perfect day to explore.  Now that the weather is finally getting a bit cooler, we are ready to leave our nicely air conditioned  home. 

Our journey took us to a couple towns we've heard about over the past few years, but have not visited until now.  The first place is a sweet little city called Concordia.  We were both surprised to find such a big city in the mountains.  The people were so friendly and everything we checked out was beautifully cared for.  Lots of art on walls all around town.  And everywhere you looked, you had an amazing view of ..... mountains!

A bit farther up the road we explored a town called Copala.  It was tiny in comparison - population around 600.  Narrow, steep, cobbled roads that were like a maze.  We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking.....valleys and mountains.  Food was delicious.  The restaurant had the look and feel of a fortress.  There is a mine shaft/cave under ground there that we could have explored if we had flashlights.

Most (if not all) of the towns in these mountains (Sierra Madres) were mining towns.  Quite impressive.

The Wall of Cold

It's hot and humid. We have our AC running during the day. When we open the front door, we get hit with a wall of cold air. Aaaahh!

Our sweet little groove

I am trying to wrap my brain around the fact that we have been in Mazatlan 9 days.  Hard to believe….

It was lovely to come back here and not have there be any big surprises.  The RV park has some rigs in storage, but we are the only residents.  Well, us and the iguanas and frogs and other wildlife.

There is no hot water yet in the showers, but I don’t think I’d be using it if there was.  It is hot hot hot and the cool showers feel heavenly.

Our little neighborhood on the north end of town is slowly coming to life.  Last night, we were the first (and only) customers at one of the restaurants up the road.  Our favorite café, the Looney Bean, will open up tomorrow.  Then, on Tuesday, our favorite restaurant, Karma Kitchen will open. 

We have been slowly reconnecting with friends.  The ceremony of the full moon definitely gave us a chance to see some friends and meet new friends.

Ah…. The Ceremony!  I am still processing these 3 intense nights.  Pleased to report that not only did I succeed in completing the ceremony, but I was able to dance in just about every dance.  With the aid of a walking stick  ;-)

I am already starting the hunt for Americans returning to the US that can bring mail back.  And I’m looking for fun post cards all the time.  What can I cut up and recycle today???

We still have some finishing touches to add to our little home – prayer flags are going up today and I will be hauling out all of my flower pots and coming up with a garden plan.  Yay!  When we arrived here, one of my baby plants from a Mother-of-millions plant had actually taken root and now, I have a righteous plant ready to plant in a place of honor! 

And we are one step closer to being more “Mexican” while we are here. (drumroll….) we are not refrigerating our eggs!  Yup.  Going out on a limb with this one, but what the hey!  Everyone else in the country is doing it and they seem to be okay.

Still going through some serious withdrawals around  friends and family.  Missing the NM fam so much.  But, finally starting to figure out the skype situation (walk to the office and cross our fingers), so hopefully we can be more in communication on many levels.

Now, time to make some guacamole and quesadillas for lunch.

Stone Island Experience

 Here's some photos of the setting of the full moon ceremony that Helene took part in with other women. There's not a lot of photos due to the sacredness of the gathering but I took a few of the campsite because it was so beautiful there.

Flor's husband Ismael and I tended the fire and spent a lot of time gathering driftwood to keep the fire going continuously. The full moon was beautiful and the most effect we had from the hurricanes down south were a few drops of rain and one big blow that was over in an hour. We actually welcomed the wind that carried away the jejenes (no-see-ums) that were bugging us all.

The ocean was calm and the water was warm for swimming. This site is about 6 miles from the closest town, on the edge of a coconut plantation. We took the truck into town several times to pick up people and supplies.

I had a great experience but it was exhausting and I'm glad to be home again.