Written Morning, 3 January 2008

This creating a daily blog is a bit more work than I imagined. Partly, our days have not developed a routine quite as quickly as I might have hoped. We have been trying to supply the apartment, get a little sun and become familiar with the town. Also, after working to leave the house for two months, we were pretty tired. I do favor the siesta of ole Mexico!

For us, we have been sleeping in quite late. We have climbed out of bed about 7 each morning. However, we can’t say that the sleep has been sound. New year’s Eve extended into the first day of the year. And has even carried over to January 2nd. Fireworks, loud car radios (the Mexicans do play everything loud), and our vocal neighbors, the roosters, make a good night’s sleep problematic.

I have been exploring the town each morning with a walk that has now grown to about an hour. Walking here is more challenging than at home. Sidewalks are in poor condition, streets are cobblestone, and we live on the side of the hill. I counted this morning and after you have completed your walk, you climb up a hill at what must be a 30-degree angle and just as you reach the top of that there are 45 steps up to our gate, followed by 30 more up to the landing of our apartment.

New Year’s Day started with a morning walk that revealed to me the remnants of the previous night’s partiers. People were sleeping along the Malecon, a more than mile-long esplanade that goes right along the ocean in the central part of town. A group of young people had parked their SUV along the street, turned the radio up full blast and were dancing in the nearly deserted main street. Joggers and walkers, however, were out in number and made their way along the Malecon along with me. I passed one place that must have had an all-night party as fancy dressed couple were just emerging to be greeted by a long line of taxis.

Polley and I spent the morning developing a list of needed items. In the late morning we emerged from the compound to begin to shop for the supplies. Many local places were closed, but we did navigate the large Guadalajara Farmacia and found a few things we needed. We went to a little local hut along the beach and had a beer and watched them grill shrimp and pieces of lobster that were then placed on a stick. Did not try them today, but I know they will be a staple in the days to come. Eventually wandered back to our place for some snacks and a siesta. About 5, we wandered down to a place on the beach, hoping to meet up with Eric Steinhausen, the box office manager for the opera. Eric has a condominium down here and has been a great help in our learning about PV. We were not able to locate him. Did have a margarita and watched the high-jinks of a largely gay contingent that frequent this particular part of the beach. They do have fun!

We wandered back along the beach, struggling with the age-old problem, where to eat. Each night you see couples, families, lonely singles all wandering aimlessly about searching for the perfect meal. They peruse a menu, look at what others are being served, sniff the air, take a step inside, and then back away and move on. Sometime, in families, mom makes the foray, other times its dad. In each instance, however, the teenagers in the family are sure to roll their eyes and wonder why they can’t just have pizza back in the room.

In this game of Restaurant-Roulette, we guessed wrong again. We stopped on the beach at the El Dorado. We weren’t very hungry so we had a salad and cream of cucumber with caviar rain. The problem was that it was not a caviar “rain,” in fact in weather terms, the amount of caviar would not even count as a light mist, in fact it might be not be considered a “trace.” The salad was certainly forgettable as well.

The 2nd of January started the same. The weather was a bit warmer in the morning and there was the promise of a warmer day. That was, fact, true. We were determined to get a little sun and put our toes in the ocean. Up to this point most all our time has been taken up with moving in. We reach the Blue Chairs Beach Club bar and restaurant about 11 and sat about, again hoping to find Eric. In the meantime, we read, and gazed on the bodies of flabby old men and their well-oiled boy-toys. I listened to a fascinating conversation about a new spa where you could get a “4-hand massage” for the price of a “six-hand.” One fellow demanded that his partner get both a manicue and a pedicure as his appendages looked by “dragon’s claws!” This trip is going to be educational in ways I never imagined!

And then, as if by magic, we looked across the way at a group of guys gathered around drinks and a beach umbrella. I had one of them earlier say he was from Portland, but had paid little attention because they were not in the “Blue Chairs,” the place we had been instructed to look for Eric. However, Eric and others were in this group and we soon joined them and had a wonderful 3 margarita afternoon. We met Eric’s partner, Greg, and a number of other PV regulars all from Oregon. The weather was warm, the sea, still a bit cool, refreshing, and the camaraderie, delightful and funny. We got back to the room about 3 and had a little lunch to soak up the margaritas. A siesta was called for, and then it was time for another round of Restaurant Roulette. We wandered down to the Malecon for a glass of wine and just watched the crowds wander by. We stopped at a place I had noticed on the Malecon as being a nice location for coffee in the morning or a drink at sunset. It is called Vitea. People watching on the Malecon is nearly as good as Paris, but, of course, without the addition of high fashion. One of my projects on this trip is to work through the thoughts of French philosopher, Montaigne. Yesterday he was writing about people as “miraculously vain, various, and wavering.” I was reminded of his words as people strolled by, stopped and considered the menu and moved on. What a gloriously varied group is humankind!

We decided to try a restaurant that our landlord had recommended as one of their favorites, Gaby’s. It is a tiny place, near the Cathedral. Simple, basic, very Mexican looking, with an all traditional Mexican menu. It was boring! As Polley says, she did not think it possible to make a mole sauce without flavor, but Gaby has taken it to a high art! Very disappointing. If we continue this way, we may be providing everyone with a two-month list of where NOT to eat. Home around 9 and we drank a little wine, read and turned in around 10. More later.