Escaping Paradise

In just 2 weeks I'll be heading north to California for a couple months. I am so happy to see my friends and family and do some fun stuff while I'm there.
I will, however, miss my little village. There are many reasons (as I'm sure in a different mood I can think of many reason to not miss it) that make it a bit sad to go. These reasons aren't all quite what you'd think they would be. For instance I, of course, will miss warmth, swimming in the ocean, and my boyfriend. Those are the obvious ones.
I will miss the slow pace and in some ways the lackadaisical way of doing things here.
For instance, after thinking I finally had all the paper work I needed for registering my business under my name, it was done wrong. Who's fault that was I can't say exactly, but no matter really.
So, yesterday I took a beautiful walk up river to the house of the Delegate for this area. When I arrived no one was at the "desk" (a computer sitting on their patio) so I called out. I then saw a group of women sitting at a table under a tree around the side of the house. It looked like they were crafting. One of the young ladies came over and I explained that I needed some changes on the paperwork. She said no problem with no questions asked. However, would it be possible to come get it tomorrow as they were using the only extension cord, the one for the computer, for a hot glue gun for crafting cloth flowers.
Now, maybe because of my deep appreciation for crafting myself, or just because...what else could I do. I said, of course I'll come back when the only extension cord in your "office" is not otherwise engaged.
We'll see if it's ready when I go in today, hopefully they finished all their flowers. Or maybe I should bring my own extension cord. Either way, I'll be stopping on the way home to pick up some passion fruit, so whatever happens it wont' be a total loss.
I have to go to the DMV when I get to California, I have a feeling there will be no crafting being done.
And the following photo has nothing to do with anything, it's just a cute frog hanging out in my doorway. Another thing to miss.

Floods, frogs and crocodiles, oh my!

It turns out I didn't win the "when will the rains come" pool. I found out the hard way, by waking up to a flooding house. About 2 inches in my room. All is well, no damage and now we have fixed the issues that caused the flooding. I forgot what real tropical storm rain was like. When you are in it it's like someone is following you around with a hose that has very good water pressure.
We've had a very productive few days since then. Nothing like the aftermath of a flood to get you to do a good deep clean of the house.
I also forgot the intensity of the crabs and bugs just after a storm, the crabs I don't love but at least they are a bit comical. The bugs, now they are not comical. Sometime ones reaction to them flying into their face is comical. But generally, ick!
Another fun thing is all the frogs they really love the rain! They also really love making love in my room on the floor next to my bed. Shown in the video below. 

Now the conversation has changed, no more, "when do you think it will rain?". Now the conversation includes things like, "there is a guy selling pineapples for only 20 pesos and they are big, sweet, and juicy!" and "did you here about the crocodile in the lagoon?", "yes actually, I heard there were two".
Yes, actually I did hear there were two. In the rainy season the crocodiles from way way up in the jungle sometimes wash down into the river here. I think they are pretty small, but in the mean time we are going to keep my brother's dog out of the river...just in case.
Apparently the government wants a photo of it before they send someone out to get it...get out your cameras everyone! And keep your limbs inside the boat at all times.

Summer in Paradise

Well, after dusting the cobwebs off of everything in my house I will now do the same for my blog. There has been a lot of action since I last wrote.
I have moved into Casas de los Sueños, have had some guests, done some traveling, and as of late a whole lot of sweeping up dead bugs every morning. Not to mention dodging toads and land crabs.
Summer in the tropics is a constant battle against nature, and it always wins. Think of it as one of those time lapse nature videos, that...but in real time. You can spray on bug spray, sit in front of the fan, sweep out cobwebs, but all of these measures are purely temporary. When the spray sweats off, the power goes out, and the cobwebs are back in 20 minutes, you are just where you started...hot and bug bitten.
I know this sounds bad. And to some it would be. To me it is a test of my endurance and I am thoroughly enjoying it. (Not the bug bites, those just itch). The heat lends to my natural laziness and allows me to sleep during the day without feeling guilty. The ocean is calm, clear, and warm. I have been swimming a lot and it is one of most simultaneously invigorating and relaxing things in the whole world.
The jungle around me is alive and full of interesting beautiful wildlife. At dusk the sound of the night creatures are deafening. It is a mystery as to what is making each noise to add to the symphony of sound. I equally want and don't want to know what is making every individual noise.
The rains have not come. There was a storm  a couple weeks ago when I was not here and was sad to miss it. But the real everyday rainy season rains have not come. We are working towards shutting down the houses for this. That means, cleaning, wrapping in plastic, checking roofs, and generally putting stuff away.
The talk on the trail usually includes a comment on how hot it is "Que calor, no?" and when the rains will come "Parece que quiere llover" "No, no va a llover hasta el 25 de Junio". I am always amazed at the exact dates people give...are they taking bets? If not, maybe we should start a pool in town.
Personally I think it's going to start raining on the 19th of June. 
I'll let you know who wins the pool.

A sueño come true.

When I was a just a small kid and was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up I would say I wanted to be Garfield. When I got a bit older (8 or 9ish) I would say I wanted to have a restuarant and farm. Apparently I was way before my time with the whole "slow food" thing. Back when folks just called it "food".
It's a strange feeling when you've vaguely dreamed of doing something for most of your life, without knowing what it really looked like, and suddenly it's what you are doing.
No I don't own a farm, or a restaurant, and it turns out I don't really want to. But what has happened is that I am now the proprietor of a bed and breakfast style villa in the tropics of Mexico.
Rather my brother Mateo and I, and really the rest of my immediate family as we tend to do things together.
I, however, have the honor of being the Ava Gardner a la "Night of the Iguana" character in this story (seriously if you haven't seen it, do so), the hostess atop the tropical hill above the sea.
We are proud and excited to say we will now be taking the reins of Casa de los Sueños in Yelapa. Some years ago we met Shannon and David (and family) after they acquired and beautifully restored the historic yet very neglected Shapiro house. The property right next door to our own Los Arboles. We became dear friends and happy neighbors for a good couple of years. Sadly, for us and the community of Yelapa, David and Shannon have decided to end their time as business owners here. There are offers they can't refuse, grandkids, and apparently they like being cold a lot of the time, so they are packing up and heading back up to Canada. There are not words for how much I, and many more, will miss them here (luckily it's actually in the contract that they have to come visit).
The serendipity of this transfer is, to me, the most perfect of things. A real reminder that when we put our minds to something, even when we aren't quite sure what it is, we have the power to make it happen.
There is a lot of hard work, true challenges, really fun times ahead, and we are very excited to get to it!

Time moves both extremely slowly and quickly in the tropics.

I feel that I have neglected my duties as an internet presence. I realize here that when it feels like a week has passed it sometimes is more like three. At other times it feels as if the end of the day or week or month will never come. Time crawls and then it sprints and then crawls again.
Since I last posted we have had what seemed like month of cold and rain, really about a week. The sun has finally returned and I am so happy for it. At first I really enjoyed the rain. It's kind of cozy, it's beautiful on the water, it cleans everything, and it smells amazing. Then your clothes won't dry, your salt turns to salt water, the boat rides are wet and very bumpy, and you can't close the door on the rain because there isn't one.
There has been a lot of action here in the last few weeks. My brother Mateo got pretty sick and my mom decided to come down spur of the moment. It was wonderful to have her here. She is an extremely capable and knowledgeable woman, but especially when it comes to living here in Yelapa. She has information and ideas that are immensely helpful to running a house here. Also, I just really like her and was so happy to be able to spend time with her.
We had our first scorpion sting this week, our friend Julian had the honor of being the stingee. He said he was glad he could learn the lesson for the rest of us...be ever diligent! It was in his shorts that had been hanging over a bed post. He is actually one of the most cautious guests we've had...unfortunately it takes just one small mistake. Now as far as he is concerned there is a scorpion on everything...really a pretty good way to think of it.
We have some very big and very exciting projects on the very near horizon. I will dedicate a blog to this subject very soon. I can say that Yelapa will be my more permanent home from now on.
Friday I have guests arriving and I am very much looking forward to that. I will get back on posting photos and more blogs soon. For now I am going to enjoy some of this sun that we finally have. Hasta el proximo blog!
P.S. The bees are good, just being bees for the moment. I hope to have more time with them soon.

Guest writer Shannon Yates on shopping adventures in PV

Yesterday I had to make a flying trip to Vallarta for supplies, toilet paper being first on the list. In one week with only 12 people on the property we went through 40 rolls of toilet paper. Mind you, they were all women so I guess no shakey, shakey with them. Since the pier is still NOT finished in Vallarta, I take the boat to Boca followed by the bus to PV. I board the bus in Boca and about 10 mins into the ride, it stops to pick up Elvis Presley, yup an exact look alike complete with shiny guitar. He boards and starts singing and strumming just like Elvis. Now this guy is smart; he gets on before all the pick ups, mostly gringos, from the villas, hotels and condos along the way. Within the 30 min ride to PV, from my vantage point he collected about 250 ps (25 bucks).

In PV, I get off the Boca bus and board the city bus for Sam's Club and Walmart. About midway, we stop at a light and next to us is a police pick up truck with the truck bed full of gringos (young, white men) handcuffed and tied up with rope. Some are bloodied up, most look hung over and/or still drunk. There are 4 police standing on the 4 corners of the truck bed with guns pointed at the yahoos. Right behind them is another police truck, this one loaded with a bunch of young Mexican women, some with black eyes and bloody mouths and all handcuffed and tied up. Same number of police. Everyone on the bus, mostly Mexicans, are yapping away about what all this means. The conclusion drawn over the next 15 blocks was a prostitution house gone wrong. Ohhhh, sure hope this doesn't hit the press -- another reason why tourists should not visit Mexico.

I get all my shopping down, about 100 lbs of it and am packing it into the good ole Mountain Equipment Coop rollaway bag. Once done with that I talk with the cab driver about the fare straight to Boca. In the middle of my conversation with this guy, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Turn around and standing there is a Mexican guy from Tino's Hacienda up around El Tuito way. He trains horses to dance and a year or so ago Mateo, David and I took a trip with Brad up through the mountains. We stopped at the Hacienda and drank some of the best tequila (brewed there) and watched this guy with his dancing horse. About 3 weeks ago he was in Yelapa with the horse as part of the entertainment for the campaign fiesta. It is election year and some of the candidates were holding a forum up by Manguitos. I went up and listened to some of it and talked with this guy and his horse again. Back to Sam's Club now -- he remembered seeing me both times and wanted to know if I was going to Boca. If so he would give me a ride. I was bit nervous about accepting but thought 'what the hell' all is likely good. Got to his truck and there is his wife, a gaggle of kids, 2 more men and a pile of shopping too. All the women, including me and most of the kids jumped in the truck bed and the rest in the front. Wowso! I always wanted to ride in a truck bed in Mexico, preferably without handcuffs. Got lots of stares from Mexicans and gringos on the road to Boca. They dropped me at Boca in time for the 3 p.m. boat back to Yelapa.

A day like this could never be planned. Made the dreaded shopping day loads of fun. Thank you Mexico!

Guadalajara and home again.

Last week I took a trip to Guadalajara under the guise of work. It was both work and vacation but mostly vacation, since shopping was the work part and shopping is super fun!
I had a wonderful guide, Luis, who is a local (they call them Guanatos) which made it so much easier.
We took the 5 hour bus ride from Puerto Vallarta, which goes up the coast then winds through the mountains. Arriving there late in the evening, and not having a hotel yet, we ended up walking around the plaza looking for a cafe w/WiFi so we could find some options online. We walked to the presidential palace where, sitting against the wall, was a line of young people on laptops using the free WiFi. We joined them and found the cheapest hotel in the area. We stayed there for one night, it was like being in a Mexican jail. I couldn't hang.
We then found the wonderful Hotel Posada San Pablo, right in the center of town, affordable, balcony, cable, WiFi, shared kitchen, and really nice staff.
We walked all around the beautiful center of Guadalajara seeing all the historic places, ate wonderfully affordable and delicious food, went to the downtown indoor market, ate more great food, got drunk in a Mexican bar (I guess all the bars are Mexican here, but this one had the music and the people to prove it), went to Luis' friends Reggae club, went to the hippie/alternative outdoor market (it was like the Berkeley flea market in spanish), spent a day shopping in the amazing market in the colonia Tonala, ate tortas ahogadas (tortas drowned in a chile sauce) and cried and sweated cause they were so spicy, and had a generally great time.
Guadalajara feels like the kind of city I could spend a lot of time in and hope to do so more in the future. I have to say though, on the last day we were telling someone about Yelapa and I started to really miss my little fishy sleeping village. I took a plane back to Puerto Vallarta with all my goods, stayed in Vallarta for the night and went to my favorite taco place, got up in the morning and took the boat back to Yelapa, and was so happy to return home.
The house is looking great and the purchases are perfect. Next time I'm taking a truck and filling it up!

Bees are moved!

Last night we had a lovely dinner with fish caught by Mateo and lettuce from our friend Johnny's garden. After dinner in the cover of dark Mateo and Jerry donned the bee suits and moved the bee box to their new spot. It went smoothly for the most part and it was satisfying to get that done, as it had been weighing on my mind since I got here.
After the bee move we had a shot of Fernet and off to bed.
Today I woke up with apprehension for the bees, that they would return to their original spot. The rule is that you have to move them at least 7 miles so they don't return to the spot they were before and we were not able to do that yet. As of now some are still returning to the topanco but most seem to be going to the new spot. It is amazing to me that they are trying to enter the same side and area of another trunk that was next to the one with the hive that we moved.
Anyway, I am hoping they all eventually adjust to the new place we have set up and are not too upset by the move.
Jerry has gone back to the states so we are on our own now, but feeling excited and confidant.
Now for honey!

Adventures in bee keeping 2.0

Keeper: a. An attendant, a guard, or a warden. b. One that has the charge or care of something.

Yesterday my bee mentor, Jerry, and I (with Mateo documenting) donned our suits, smoker, calm attitudes, and extracted the masks, and a small amount of honey from our trunk of bees in the topanco. It's a weird thing to be so close to so many little stingy creatures and not feel any fear. It's liberating and truly awe inspiring. I find that I love these bees more than I could imagine. I think I always had the love somewhere but this experience has solidified it into something tangible. We first smoked the entrance then opened the lid. I held it open while he smoked the hive. We began to extract the masks carefully. They had already began to attach propolis to a couple of the masks, to start building the hive onto them. I am amazed at how fast they work. Jerry said they had built a few more combs in the few days he'd been here. We then smoked them a bit more and went for the combs. Jerry took a scraper tool and cut two combs from the top of the box. We brushed the bees off into the box and closed it carefully. We had to smoke and brush some more bees off the combs then went back down stairs. Mateo all the while about 10 feet away, not wearing a suit mind you, and safe. We removed our suits, sat at the table, and tasted the first of our jungle honey. It was sweeter than any honey I've ever tasted...but I might be biased. They are my bees after all, or rather I am their keeper. Next task is to move them to their new spot which we may do tonight. I hope they like it and are happy and productive, as I strive to be as well.

Adventures in bee keeping 1.5

We have more or less let the bees take over the Topanco as we were not sure how to proceed. Reading and learning about bee keeping, it turns out, is not the same as dealing with actual bees. The man who lived in the house prior to us, Jerry, asked if there was room to stay here as he wanted to jaunt down for a last minute trip. We said that sadly there was not since the only free beds were upstairs with the bees. He said-great no problem, I kept bees as a hobby for 10 years!
Totally amazing and perfect! This is a strange and wondrous world and Jerry will be my guide into apiculture. Today we will start. We will open the box and remove the masks and try to get some honey. Tonight we will try to move the whole box to a spot we have picked near the house. Eventually we will need to move them further.
I learned a good lesson about being careful just now. I was trying to move a box next to them and bumped the hive box hard. Within seconds I had been stung twice and was being pursued by a bee all the way down the stairs and across the house. She was pissed and rightfully so. Sadly it was her or me. Killing that bee was something I should not have had to do...it was my stupid fault and for that I feel much remorse. And a good deal of pain where she stung me! (which I totally deserved)
So now I got the first, of what will likely be many, stings out of the way and am ready to get to bee keeping. Photos and more stories to follow soon...wish me luck and most of all the ability to stay calm in case of disaster.

A new year full of new adventures.

Hello loyal followers! Sorry to have left you alone without my brilliant wit and fascinating stories for so long ;)
But really, I do feel I have been too distracted by life to even write about it...a good thing I think.
After my short trip north for the Christmas holiday I returned to Yelapa exhausted and a bit sick. Of course that is when my brother Mateo, his guests, and 2 of my guests all arrived here. I was in bed for a day or so before I could join them in the world of the living. Once I did join them we had a lovely time full of laughter, food, and general good times.
New years eve here in Yelapa is a big deal. Usually people have dinner out or with the family then head to the Yacht Club (no actual yachts nor is it a club really) and the Casino (not a place for gambling just a big dance hall) around 12:30amfor the major party. This party lasts until everyone goes home at around 6, 7, 8 or 9am. I lasted til about 11:30pm, not even making it til midnight. I was a bit sad to miss this fiestota (big fiesta) but figure, there's always next year (unless the world blows up on Dec. 27th). And woke up new years day finally feeling pretty great after a long time of feeling pretty physically wrecked.
Our guests have left us, sadly. However that does mean I get to move into the Tortuga (a little casita off the main house) and finally unpack my bags after about 3 months of living out of them, yay! I will spend the rest of this week nesting and working on my tan (I promise to use lots of sunscreen and wear a hat). Come Monday it's time to get to work! Tons of things to do in the house and also some possible exciting new endeavors of which I will write more soon.
I hope everyone has had a wonderful new year so far. I feel it is a time of lots of change and upheaval, but truly for the best. Feliz año nuevo amigos!