Life in Sayulita

I cannot believe Alyssa, Erin, Cynhia and I have only been in Sayulita for a little over a week. We have done so much and met so many people in the last 10 days that it feels as if we have been here for much, much longer!

I am surprised at how easily and quickly we have fallen into a routine. In doing so, we have also sort of turned into old ladies! On “school-nights” the four of us usually fall asleep early. And I’m not kidding when I say early—one night I fell asleep at 8pm! For my entire life I have been a night owl, but here I am usually one of the first to go to bed! I think it has to do with the sunset. The sun goes down at around 6 or 6:30pm. But because the weather is so warm and summer-like, it feels like its 9pm to us Midwesterners.

Another factor contributing to our “old age” are the activities we do to keep ourselves entertained. Our apartment won’t get wifi while we are here. We invested in some internet USB sticks, which work pretty well, but still aren’t the same. So usually we spend our evenings playing card games and Ellen’s Heads Up game. All I can say is that we are getting really good at playing rummy…

Our house is still really lively though. The other night while we were getting ready for bed we found a gecko in the upstairs bathroom. Everyone was afraid of him, so I volunteered to catch him (or at leasst try). He was so cute, but I quickly lost my nerve when he started to move. Geckos move lightning fast, so we lost him somewhere in the bathroom. They come in from our patio upstairs, so there's really no avoiding them. At least they don't bite (like scorpions or tarantulas!)

Meet our new roommate, Señor Gecko!

Erin, Alyssa and Cynhia moving to higher

ground to escape the gecko.

We are really beginning to become part of the community and get to know people better. Everyday on our walk to school we pass our friend Webb’s house. He is an older gentleman who built a beautiful house in Sayulita 10 years ago. He always seems to be outside when we walk by, and is always extremely friendly. A few days ago Cynhia and Alyssa met him more officially at the beach. Then on Saturday he excitedly ran downstairs when we walked by his house to give us each a copy of “Sayulita Magazine,” which he writes for and probably created himself. Then on Sunday Cynhia and I were invited inside for a grand tour. His house is absolutely gorgeous. It’s three stories tall and was designed and built by him. There are gorgeous views of the beach, beautifully painted ceilings, murals, indoor and outdoor sleeping areas, and iguana neighbors that sleep in the trees next to the house. He is very entrepreneurial and rents out most of the house. It would be amazing to stay there sometime if I ever make it back here after this experience!

We’ve also started to get to know some of our neighbors. They are all amazing and have such fascinating lives and stories. Last Monday Cynhia and I met Lynne while we were testing out our neighborhood pool. She is an older woman who has lived in Sayulita for the last five years and is an amazing storyteller. She has worked many jobs in her past, but is now retired and does what she loves—writes. She just published her second book, and when you hear her speak you immediately know she would make an amazing author. Her stories are entrancing and her speech dazzling. I cannot wait to spend more time with her.

Our other neighbors are Pepe and David. They are a fun and talented couple. Pepe is a furniture maker, and David is a well-known Mexican handbag designer. They moved here to open a shop to sell their goods. They already have a successful store in Guadalajara. We missed the grand opening, but Lynne told us it was absolutely amazing. Since then we have ventured into their store and fallen in love with everything. David’s handbags are breathtaking. Beautifully, hand-crafted leather. Vibrant colors, practical colors, Metallic colors, you name it. Each one unique. And people LOVE their products. When we walked in this lady was in the store and nearly walked out with five bags—she literally just kept picking them up and adding them to her pile. Her husband was a good sport, but seemed baffled. Another man, who works as a buyer somewhere in the U.S., was telling us that their store is the most successful in Sayulita. I know they will do well, and hope to buy one of their bags before I leave!

Being here for 10 days also means we have had the opportunity to try more of the amazing food. There are so many restaurants, and all of them are so good. We went back to Rolley’s last week to try their dinner menu, in large part because Kathy gave us coupons for free margaritas! But also because the couple is so cool and is really helping the community. The restaurant is employee owned, so everybody benefits from the success of the place, not just Rolley and is wife. Cynhia and I tried the “Paella for Two” which was out of this world. The saffron rice was perfectly cooked. The fish and shrimp was delicious. The chicken kind of creeped us out because it had bones and was hard to cut, but we were so stuffed even without touching the chicken. We still have leftovers! The meal also came with a pitcher of sangria and a chocolate soufflé. It was so much food, but a meal to remember. We had so much that we ended up sharing a lot with Erin and Alyssa—it really could have been a meal for all four of us!

Cynhia and I posing with our paella and GIANT

pitcher of sangria. ¡Buen provecho! 

Paella

Cynhia posing with our chocolate soufflé!

We also tried “Pizza Venezia.” The pizza is big, inexpensive, and delicious. For 99 pesos you get all of the ingredients you want. Cynhia and I went crazy with the veggies and added some pepperoni. We will definitely be going back there.

!Que rico!

There are so many great street food options. Freshly made churros, chocolate covered frozen bananas, coconut juice straight from the coconut. The churros are warm and the perfect combination of gooey and crunchy. I took a cool video of the whole process and will try to post it soon, internet permitting.

A sinful yet irresistible treat. (Un)fortunately

we pass this stand everyday on our way to

and from school...

Which came first: 

Bluth's Frozen Bananas

or Choco Banana?

Coconut juice straight from the coconut.

A perfect drink for the beach!

After a long first week at school (which will be the topic of my next post) it was nice to relax over the weekend. We went into Puerto Vallarta with some other teachers from CVIS, Whitney and America. It was more of a necessities run and less of a trip to see Vallarta. I am happy to say that now that we've been to Sam's Club we have enough peanut butter to last a lifetime. This weekend was also the first annual Festival Sayulita. The Festival consisted of drinking, movies, and more. We tried to go on Thursday night to see a video on the beach that featured some of the kids from CVIS but they kept pushing the showing time back so we didn't end up staying. Fortunately, we were able to see some baile folklórico, a traditional Mexican dance, which was as lively as it was beautiful. For the rest of the weekend we hung out on the beach, we're still playing catch up to everyones tans!

Baile folklórico is a traditional Mexican dance.

It is playful and all about "the chase."

Last but not least, Cynhia and I accidentally stole a dog on Sunday. We were walking to the local levandería to pick up our clean clothes and passed this adorable curly, white-haired puppy. Cynhia prompted me to pick her up, and when I did the precious little pup just snuggled right up to me. Cynhia and I were both in some crazy state of awe and impulsively decided we would keep her. So we walked down the street looking at her with googly eyes, deciding if she was a boy or girl, picking a name, and planning out how we would take care of her. Everybody we passed was staring at us like we were crazy and laughing. When we got to the levandería we realized why. A little boy ran up behind us and explained that the dog belonged to the lady that owns the tortillería we just passed. We promised we would return her and he left. The thing about Mexico is that dog ownership is very different than in the U.S. You have a pet dog but don’t necessarily put a collar on it. Even though you own a dog, your dog is still a social being with its own life. The dogs just go out on the street and do as they please. They have dog friends, they go to the beach, and they don’t necessarily have to stay close to their house. So us picking up this dog and thinking she had no owner was not that crazy. We walked her bag and returned her to the tortilla guy. We learned that “our” dog is in fact a girl. Her name is Princesa. She does not like being confined in the house and so spends a lot of time outside. Even though we gave her back, she still recognizes us when we walk by and gets really happy and excited.

The puppy that could have

been ours...