Los Gringitos

Home again, Home again

2009-04-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Our feet are back on American soil! We made it back in one piece, didn’t have our identities stolen, and were never even kidnapped! Not even once!

Our final week in Zirajuen mostly consisted of spring-time activities. Clearing flower beds, planting bulbs, and preparing Easter feasts. We even got a little Easter Surprise that delighted Julia immensely. After over a month of sitting, one of the ducks on the farm hatched 8 little ducklings! They were bright yellow, and fluffy as can be. We created a private little apartment for “Mommy” and provided her with all the necessities. Julia loved to just sit and fawn over them. And so did other barnyard friends! As we watched the yellow mound grow in size, a little barn mouse arrived to see what all the commotion was. He sat and investigated for a while, and I agreed when Julia said it felt kinda like Charlotte’s Web.

Monday morning we departed, said our farewells, and took a bus out of Uruapan. It was only a 4 hour bus ride, but I will readily admit my joy at never being forced to watch a Spanish dubbed “Shrek 3” again. The movies they force you to listen to on the “first class” busses are not my cup of tea.

We spent two days in the costal town of Zihuatanejo. It was a clean, picturesque beach city with cantinas on every corner and tourists on every sidewalk. We like it much better than Puerto Vallarta. Our Hostel was the Rincon de Viajero, just five minutes from the bay. We enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach for our final day in Mexico. We snorkeled, drank pina coladas, and had dinner at a beautiful restaurant as the sun set. In the morning we packed our belongings, walked across the windy tarmac and completed our long, wonderful, exhausting journey.

Our Mexican travels are finally at a close. We were there for 82 days. We’ve spent time in 5 states, and 11 cities! It’s been an amazing journey, and it’s been great to have you along with us. Sharing our photos, our stories, and our experiences with you has been a vital part of this time. Until our next adventure, Vaya con Dios!

Mucho amor, felicidades, y salud,
Philip & Julia

Death & Taxes

2009-04-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

We are now on the final leg of our journey. Only eight more days in Mexico! We’re getting a bit weary and homesick, but we haven’t slowed down in our adventures. The past week was one of water and molten metal – and where we learned that the old adage about “Death and Taxes” isn’t such a clean cut rule.

The main project Julia and I worked on was sowing 300 feet worth of bright-red fingerling potatoes into weedy grass-choked soil. After days of pick axing, shoveling, turning, measuring, aligning and planting, the result was a beautiful thing to behold. The whole thing got covered in a straw-mulch, fenced off, and the result is what you see before you. We also planted just as many feet of peas, though that was less labor intensive because of soft soil and a lack of rows. There were also the mandatory picking days, in which we picked mountains of lettuces, arugulas, root plants and herbs for a restaurant.

As you might imagine, life on a farm can get repetitive and predictable. We won’t bore you by going into the details of things already mentioned. Still, over time one notices new things in their familiar surroundings that they didn’t before. For example, Julia has fallen in (mutual) love with PorqueNo, the half-wolf pet of the Sheppards. Whenever we drive anywhere, she plays Wolf-Queen with a regal and peaceful wolf perched on her lap. She loves to have long discussions with PorqueNo, as well as with Peep-Peep, the adolescent gosling, Peepers, the baby gosling, and all the loving cats that prowl the property; Tzin, Tzan, Tzun, and Sweetie Cat. I have probably become the most tan I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve acquired a taste for eggs in the morning, and (to Julia’s amazement) cookies in the evening! We also decided to take a count, and after Julia learned how to make granola from scratch on Sunday, we were amazed to find we’ve acquired recipes over 40 new dishes during our stay in Mexico! If that’s not something valuable to take home with you, I don’t know what is.

On our day off, we visited lovely Uruapan. We enjoyed a nice wi-fi spot, a delectable steak lunch (with chips and tortillas…!? Only in Mexico.) We then went to the Parque Nacional, a gorgeous shaded park with acres and acres of fountains, waterfalls, streams, and pools. It was a much-deserved relaxation after our hard work week. We spent our afternoon there until they kicked us out for closing.

We also got an extra evening off to travel to Santa Clara with a friend of the Sheppards. Juan (whom we met and served at the dinner party) invited us to tour his copper-works and shop in the nearby Santa Clara. He even took the 30 minute drive to come pick us up. We got the tour of the shop, a chance to hammer red-hot copper, and marveled at the incredible craftsmanship. We definitely ended up taking home more copper art than we intended to for friends and loved ones.

As I mentioned, we’re still chased by IRS even in Mexico. We attempted to file for an extension with the help of my family in Austin. Regrettably, we’re missing one W2 and that throws everything off-balance. It’s a tricky thing trying to get your life in order when your life is in a storage unit and you’re isolated on a farm in the middle of the forest. The internet here is quite slow, and often doesn’t work at all. Our phones are unable to get reception. Nevertheless, taxes are inevitable and we’ll need to find some way to appease Uncle Sam.

All this thinking about taxes eventually led me to think about the other inevitable thing. And, interestingly enough, death seems to be a little less inevitable here than we had thought! Upon our arrival here, I immediately began work on a smokehouse. The plan was that Bertie would be going to that green pasture in the sky two weeks later. Well, that date has come and gone, yet Bertie’s still here eating and eating! Remember that duck rodeo two weeks back? The day after the rodeo the ducks were scheduled to be shipped off to slaughter. But if I go check the stall, I’ll definitely see 12 bored, blank duck faces staring right back at me. It’s kind of funny, really. If I had to guess, I would’ve thought it would be harder to get a new lease on life than to get a tax extension. Shows what I know.

(See if you can find little Peepers running with the flock above.)

Until our final Mexican update, take care, enjoy the spring sunshine (or snow) and finish filing those taxes!

Love,
Philip

The Rural Life

2009-03-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

This week started off with style. That’s right… duck rodeo!

Sunday morning we headed down to the corral with Lisa, Corinne, and Ariel. We then attempted to catch all 51 ducks and geese without injuring them. It started out easily enough. Julia managed to catch six ducks, and so did Arial. But then they started to suspect that something was up. They started running and fighting harder if you touched them. They got faster, worked as a group, and darted between the bamboos for cover. With their sharp talons, beating wings, and pecking beaks, soon I was the only one that could keep a hold of them. Corinne banded them, Ariel was “secretary” with a pad to record the info, Lisa sexed them (resulting in a face full of goose poop on one occasion) and Julia and I wrangled them. We eventually got a system down – Julia would back them into a corner and edge closer until their only route of escape was right past me. Crouched low, I waited until they got desperate enough, then lunged at them like a fumbled football. I landed in mud, barbed wire, and bamboo on many occasions. About 15 male ducks got put in a separate pen for slaughter later in the week, and the rest got set free. It took almost three hours, and by the time we were done, we’d about called it quits for the day. After all that crouching and diving my legs were wobbly for days.

The days speed by to the sound of birds warbling and wind in the pine trees. We only get one day off a week from work, with the rest spent entirely on the grounds. In Nayarit our days were not as full, and we got more time off. Hence, it feels like Nayarit was more of a “Mexico” experience, while Michoacan is more of a “farming” experience. We’re doing a lot more and learning a lot more in the way of farming, yet we’re almost completely cut off from the local Mexican culture. I see it as a great counterbalance to our farm last month, and I’m grateful for both opportunities. There seems to always be a pot of fresh coffee or tea for the taking. If you need a moment of rest you can just grab a warm cup of your favorite drink, and plop down with one of the dogs on the couch. Even better, Lisa usually has one of her 400+ DVD’s playing in the background, so it’s great for a quick refresher.

We have a terrific group here, and we all enjoy spending time together. Whether it be watching a movie over popcorn on our laptop, or sifting through rotted vegetables, there’s always a good vibe in the air. We’ve all kind of fallen into our specified roles. Kim is the leader and manager (designated by Lisa and Ian because she’s here for 5 months), Julia is the clutter-organizer and cook (though she enjoys helping me outside sometimes). I’m the only male WWOOFer here, so I plan and execute the heavier projects. Anna, seeking to defy gender roles, likes to help me with the more physically demanding tasks (and she’s bean-thin, so it’s funny having the two scrawniest WWOOFers being the muscle on the ranch). Corinne and Ariel, having studied permaculture back home, can usually be found working in the vegetable gardens or the green houses. “Picking Day” supersedes all other tasks, as we prepare the large orders of vegetables for restaurants or hotels when they order them.

Julia loves cooking for the group, and has received Lisa’s blessing to do so. She’s cooked us a beautiful frittata, savory curry (the powder made from scratch!), and delicious desserts. When she’s not doing that, she loves to work with the animals, especially the newborns. While she’s busy in the kitchen or the corral, I’m usually outside getting dirty. Earlier this week, I undertook a project to build a smokehouse for smoking…..Bertie. Working alone from a hand-drawn diagram, I dug a huge fire pit underground connected to a twelve-foot diagonal chimney. The chimney, constructed of crimped 5 lb. aluminum cans, lays underground at a slope of about 1/10. At the other end of a chimney, I dug another similar pit, ringed it with a 2-foot tall wall of bricks, and placed a huge barrel on top. I finished by covering the wall and the bottom of the barrel with dirt (so no smoke will escape) about 3 feet high, compacting it, and assembling a staircase of concrete at the base. The idea is that it will get all the smoke from the fire, but very little of the heat. Anna and I have taken several excursions into the forest to haul immense 100-300 lb. tree trunks up from the ravine, and then process them into firewood. We also have begun the ambitious endeavor of doubling the size of the chicken pen. I put my hard-earned pick axing skills to use again, building long trenches and deep holes. Hauling the massive “posts”, i.e. tree trunks, up the hill by hand was no picnic either.

For a bit of a break to the routine, Lisa and Ian hosted a barbecue on Sunday. There were 16 of us in all, and Julia, Lisa, and I ended up doing all the cooking…and boy did we cook! For over six hours I slaved over mounds of guacamole, bowls of homemade fire-roasted salsa. I butchered, marinated, and grilled three whole chickens, created salad dressings, and flavored focaccia breads. Julia whipped up a gorgeous tray of cookies and lemon bars that had everyone drooling. Around here, even a party means plenty of work. Once everyone had eaten, all six of us WWOOFers headed back into the kitchen for another hour of cleaning while the older folks enjoyed coffee and dessert. It wasn’t a day off, but it was nice to get a break from swinging that pick-axe!

Julia and I love it here. But we’re counting the days until we get to come back to Texas. We miss everyone back home, and I have an inexplicable craving for some American fast food and my own bed. Most of all, we’re eager and excited about beginning our new lives in a new state. Every day as we work we talk about agencies, different states, a new home, and life as struggling artists. We bought our plane tickets, and we’ll be arriving in Houston on the 15th of April. We’ll spend a few days in Texas then immediately depart again to Albuquerque, NM. I for one will miss Mexico immensely, yet I can’t help but feeling we’re going to be taking a bit of this land back with us. Julia’s sense of adventure and daring has really blossomed during our time here. We’ve both gotten fitter, stronger, and more lighthearted. I believe we’ll be surprised how much more energy we have than we did 3 months ago, when all we had to do is sit and stand all day. We’ve made some terrific friendships, learned to love a culture, and learned new languages (the Spanish language, the language of bartering, the language of Mexican streets, and most of all the language of compromise). Today we’re in Uruapan enjoying our day off, and then tomorrow it’s back to farm life. We’re looking forward to tomorrow evening, when some guests at the party promised to take us on an excursion. They’re the oldest copper-working family in the region, and they’ll be taking all six of us to their smithy.

Until next week, we miss and love every one of you reading this,
Philip

Rancho Agua Zarca

2009-03-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well well well…we are here safe and sound at a lovely farm in Michoacan.
Our bus trip was long….very long…10 1/2 hours to be exact but thankfully rather boring and full of watching really awful movies and snacking on the boat-load of food we bought for snacking. We stopped in Morelia and took the bus for the last hour leg to Patzcuaro. It was pretty cool watching the landscape change. I slowly watched as the cactus gave way to pine trees, the broad-flat mesas change to mountains, and the flat dry scrub fill up with huge lakes. Michoacan is indeed a beautiful state. The land around the farm is rather reminiscent of Colorado to me as is the weather; dry sunny days and cold nights. We are located in a little valley just over a ridge from the village of Ziruhuen, which apparently is famous for the fact that every man of age is in a “Banda”…basically one of those Mexican bands. There are supposedly 27 in all. No one knows why this is…and thankfully we are shielded from their famous practicing by the ridge.

Our hosts are the colorful Ian and Lisa Sheppard, a Brit and an American who have loads of experience living off the beaten path so to speak. The farm actually does pretty good business with the fabulous lettuces they grow and sell to some upscale restaurants in Zihuatenejo, Uruapan and Patzcuaro. But they have many other projects in the works, possibly with selling their lambs, selling Tamworth piglets, geese, ducks, ect, that may become lucrative in the future. They have had their place here for about 5 years and only began accepting wwoofers last August. We are here for a little under a month through April 14th along with Kim, a native Chicagoan who is here for 5 months before she starts grad school, another girl Anna from Portland, newly moved to San Francisco for art school. Then there are the pair of friends Ariel and Corinne. All nice people.

We have found ourselves quite busier than at the other farm. We start our day around 8 with breakfast all together and a discussion of what projects need to be done. Then it’s outside to let the chickens out and the gaggle of geese and Muscovy ducks. Then we feed and water all the nesting mothers. There are currently three (soon to be 4) nesting geese and another 3 nesting ducks. We shall soon see at least 2 batches hatch, which we are very excited about! Then we make sure the super cute batch of ducklings are fed their special food as is the orphaned and very spoiled gosling aptly named Peep-peep. He was apparently abandoned by his mother and taken under the wing of a mother duck. He gets lots of attention. Then…pigs. Oh yes, pigs. Tamworth pigs to be exact, an old breed specifically bred for bacon……that’s right…bacon. Allie is the 250 lb sow, Bertie is her brother (soon to be going on his final journey in April) who is about 200 lbs and then there is little Jacoui. At only a month old, he is just about about 35 lbs but he is the little Houdini of the bunch. He gets out at any and every opportunity, and he is fast. I shall get back to the pigs with a good story later. We feed them a cooked slop consisting of ground corn, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and a bunch of other stuff they get for free which we have to sort, cut up and cook over a fire every day. All three green houses also get opened so the stuff inside them doesn’t cook. Because we are at a rather high elevation, the sun can get rather intense, so we wear hats all day and make sure to cover up as much as possible.

In the afternoons we attend to various tasks like weeding, planting, ect. Tomorrow we are going to have a “duck rodeo” where basically we have to hunt down every duck AND goose, flip them over and sex them, band them, clip their wing feathers and write down all their pertinent info. That should be quite an experience. I am sure we will get a good story out of that one. Then it's lunch, a bit of a break time, garbage sorting and pig slop making, then the closing duties where we feed everyone dinner and pen up the geese and ducks, put up the hens and close all the greenhouses. We haven’t been doing near as hard labor as the other farm, but there seem to be a lot more tasks to be accomplished, the list seems to grow longer every day. But that’s good, and the days sure seem to fly by because of it.

OK so back to the pig story. On Wednesday Ian and Lisa had to go into Guadalajara for the day, leaving us alone at the house to fend for ourselves. After lunch Philip and Kim wanted to go into town for a beer run. One of had to stay behind so I volunteer, happy to lay out on the lawn and read a book for a while. So after about 45 minutes or so I decide its time to buckle down and finish my organizing job in the tool shed. So I walk out the gate and there's Allie…obviously enjoying herself and SO obviously not in her pen. My stomach just drops and I feel the panic begin to trickle down my spine. The other pigs…what about the two others? Indeed…they are out and about rooting up the duck yard, but thankfully they are at least in a place where I can lock them into the duck corral. But that leaves the 250lb sow out and about. I have no clue whether she’ll keep to the house or go galivanting off to her freedom into the ravine and out into the forest never to be seen again. I stupidly grabbed a bamboo pole to see if I could herd her back into the corral at least. Ha. She even seemed to look at me in that way that said “I weigh 250 lbs and I can do whatever the hell I want”. I remembered that Lisa once mentioned that the way to control a pig is to pick up their back legs and wheelbarrow them to where you want to go. I can only pick up one of her legs, which she kicks like the devil was in her. At the same time all this is happening, I hear the dogs start going nuts down the driveway. I run to check on them, because apparently they have rather crazy neighbors who want to try and kill their dogs. We were specifically asked to keep an ear out should they start barking. I run down to check on them and indeed there was a woman with blond curly hair doing something with two of the dogs. I screamed at them to come back, which they didn’t seem to care much about. But thankfully the woman stood up and went away. And the dogs come slinking back. It’s about this time that they discover Allie munching and rooting to her hearts content and they go nuts, which of course drives Allie nuts, and causes her to trample a poor duck in her retreat and eventual escape behind the chicken coop. It really hits me how alone I am and how much I wish they were back. I call out into the forest hoping that maybe they’re on their way back. Nothing. I come to realize that the only thing I can do is to keep an eye on Allie and wait. About 15 minutes later I hear some talking in the woods and I cry out for Philip. An answer! I almost wept in relief…seriously. I yell that the pigs are out and I hear Kim gasp and they run to my aid. About 20 minutes and a crushed thumb later all the pigs are back in the pen. Thanks mostly to Philip’s biceps. We immediately set to tacking barbed wire along the bottom of the pen where they had gotten out. With the dry season still very much upon us, the dirt of the pig pen is basically a fine powder which is nothing for their powerful snouts to dig up, and the fence was so rickety that it was nothing for them to push back a slab of wood and burst into freedom. The next day Philip also added hogwire to the bottom of the rickety fence and they have not escaped since.

Apart from that exciting day, it’s been rather quiet here at Ranch Agua Zarca. I am sure we will enjoy ourselves here. However, I am definitely starting to feel the tug of home. I miss my own space and the freedom to make my own decisions about my time. I miss regular food, a wardrobe consisting of more than 4 shirts, a car, knowing where the heck I am and freedom to do as I please. And the whole having-no-income thing is getting a little old. J So I think that our time here will be finished after this stay, so are looking at being home just around Easter. Its time to go and visit his grandparents and start this next chapter of our lives away from Austin and out in the real world. All that being said, I am still very much enjoying myself and hoping to learn a little about this particularly beautiful part of Mexico while we are here.

Much love to everyone and sorry we won’t be able to post as much as normal. We only get one day off a week and it is at our discretion which one we take off, and we will try and work around what is happening at the farm, so our post won’t be on the same day every week. Just fyi.

Anyways…happy Spring equinox and a very happy 22nd anniversary to my mom and dad.

Love you and miss you all very much,
Julia Olson-Lorenz

P.S. from Philip -- I am in a music video currently airing in Austin (and in LA soon, I believe). It's really slick. Check it out at http://philipnolson.blogspot.com/ . Cheers!

Masks and Michoacan

2009-03-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

We've made a major change of plans.The lead-up to the change goes something like this:

We had committed to a 2 week stay at a farm in San Miguel de Allende, to begin on the 27th of March. In the mean time, we'd hoped to visit Guanejuato, though staying in Zacatecas made more economic sense. During the drive to the La Quemada ruins, we began chatting with a middle aged couple that had finished a one month commitment on a Michoacan WWOOF farm, and they adored the experience. We were intrigued. We also met an elderly couple that had just returned from Guanejuato. They informed us that it's the best place they've been to in Mexico in all their years of travel. So...what to do?

Then we got back from the ruins and discovered that our San Miguel farm had cancelled our present engagement. Apparently they couldn't afford to support any volunteers, and we'd need to find other accomadations. "Oh!" we said. We concluded that God had created a new opportunity -- but for what we weren't sure. We decided to email the farm in Michoacan, expressing our great desire to visit. It's a farm quite similiar to Green Acres. It's run by a middle-aged couple, and the wife is a chef that teaches cooking classes. She also cooks every meal of the day (so no grocery bills). The owners have acres of gardens, fruits, and herbs. They cure their own bacon(!) and stuff their own homemade sausage. They have livestock, lots of dogs, and up to 8 volunteers. They're also within walking distance of one of the last two unpolluted deep lakes in Mexico. Sweet! We just knew this was where we were meant to be. Eagerly, we awaited their response.

The response was "No". They have no openings for the next 4 weeks, but they'd be willing to consider a commitment later in the year. We were crestfallen, but undeterred we applied to various backpacking hostels, and farms around Mexico we could work at. We had alot of options, but nothing seemed like a clear choice.

Then the Michoacan farm wrote back. They told us they "may" have an opening afterall because one couple was considering leaving early to Guatemala. They said to hang tight, that they'd contact us by Sunday. Then today they contacted us, saying "We have an openning, get on the bus tomorrow"! We are booked here tomorrow, but they agreed to have us come on Monday. What an adventure! We will be staying exactly one month in a little town right outside of Patzcuaro, Michoacan.
While all of this happened, though, we didn't stay idle. Earlier today we went to the Rafael Coronel mask museum. It's actually housed in a beautifully restored convent. Photographers prowled the grounds, snapping shots of newlyweds and glowing girls on their quincinera. We first viewed his paintings-- which were stunning. Here a picture of one of our favorites (it's large), sorry that the the photo's underlit:

You may notice there's a heavy emphasis on faces and masks in the painting. No surprise, as the artist owned an astounding mask collection, as well as 300+ marionettes. We enjoyed viewing the diverse, intricate, and frightening mask collection. Here are a few of our favorites:Afterward, while doing some final gift shopping, we stumbled upon an impromptu boxing match in the middle of a small plaza. A ring had been set up, and a sizable crowd had gathered. The competitors were ruthless, resilient, quick... and 9 years old. Yes, apparently Mexicans enjoy watching grade-schoolers beat eachother to a pulp in public (Who doesnt?). We stayed for five or six matches, and the competitors got progressively older, capping around 19 or so. As far as we could tell, there were only 2 or 3 rounds per match. There was a referee, and judges --and even the loser got a trophy (apparently their faces are less fragile than their self-esteem). If anyone ever drew blood, the match was over. Several matches ended within the first minute due to a bloodied nose; the bloodless boxer being the victor. There was lots of good natured heckling, cheering, and even chanting for the apparent-underdog. It was heartwarming to hear a chant of "Rojo! Rojo!" rise up from the crowd as Mr. Rojo was in fact taking the beating of a lifetime. It was a priceless experience.

Afterwards we went to the Acropalis for refreshments. It's a 50's-America themed-diner, complete with coke-floats, malted milk--and enchiladas! We enjoyed a strawberry-ice drink and a cappucino with Kalhua as we excitedly planned for our next trip.

It's a 9 hour bus ride from here to Patzcuaro (we can ride directly there). We will be able to check our emails in Michoacan regularly, but for blog posts and other internet uses (like phone calls) we need to go into town on our days off.

As I finish this post, I realize we're in for a long night. This afternoon, about 60 college students arrived from Guadalajara, filling the hostal to capacity. The main dorm area next door has become a very rowdy, very loud party, staged from the rooftop terrace. 80's music pounds through our windows and everyone is chanting loudly as their compatriates chug their drinks. That's the hostal experience for you, I guess. Julia's stuffed her ears with toilet paper. I imagine I'll do the same. Aaahh... sweet, sweet Mexico.

Lots of love,

Philip

Zacatecas; A Colonial Treasure

2009-03-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

We've made it to the enchanting city of Zacatecas, deep in the heart of central Mexico! It is a city of narrow cobblestone streets, bright pastel houses, and cool mountain breezes. But before we got here, we still had some more to do in Guadalajara!

Our weekend started with a picnic date at the nearby Parque de Agua Azul. First, however, we had to navigate the pure chaos that is Mexican Wal-Mart on a weekend! It was the loudest, most crowded, frantic shopping experience I can remember, and may have sworn us off from the store for good. There were stands blasting music, tons of vendors trying to sign you up for things, everything was horribly overstaffed (13 ladies working the cold cuts section, though nobody wanted ham) and this resulted in the employees heckling you to buy stuff you didn't want (e.g. "Hey! You! You want some of this chorizo?" as we look at the parmesan). We made it out in one piece, and headed to the park. Right outside the park was a huge, free, punk-music concert of some kind, and the "emo's" and "goths" were out in force. Once inside the park though, we were transported to a serene, tranquil oasis in the middle of Guadalajara. We enjoyed our picnic on the lush grass, and watched a group of girl scouts wander about, doing chants and playing games. The park featured a parrot aviary, as well as a mariposeria, or butterfly garden. The latter was a huge sphere of metal and mesh that towered over the garden. Sadly, we weren't aware of their hours, and just as we finished our lunch, they locked the doors. There did not allow balls, pets, anything with wheels, or alchohol. Beats the point if you ask me, but it was still a nice romantic escape (much of the clientel were on a date).

That night we ate at "La O". Hailed as a nuveau-Mexican tapas bar, we spent a good hour trying to find it (the roads are not well marked in Guadalajara). It had a beautiful decor, with glowing orbs lighting the roof and a fountain filled garden on the patio. For just 155 pesos ($10 U.S.), you got a tapas order, homemade bread basket, unlimited trips to their luxurious salad bar (tempura fried veggies, serrano ham, and other delicious offerings), and a main course as well! We munched on our salads, toasty empanadas with a garlicky chimichuri, and even jumbo shrimp cooked in a jamaica (hibiscus) sauce! Delish! We got a treat by watching all martinis poured from the bottle at the guest's tables, and the full bottle of tequila brought out when someone wanted a shot to toast.

Saturday we headed for the weekly ballet folklorico in the historic Teatro Degallado. Buying the second cheapest tickets in the second balcony, we eagerly awaited fro the show to begin. Moments before opening, however, we were ushered down to better seats on the ground floor by on of the staff (I'm still fuzzy as to why). With killer seats, we sat in the dark as the huge red curtain raised and the choir began to sing. The show was essentially 6 different numbers, broken up into 2 acts. Most of the numbers were based on a Mexican state, or region, such as Jalisco or Michoacan. There were about 40 performers, half choir, half dancers, with a live band on stage as well. For each number, they wore the traditional garb of the region, and sang about the people and the land. The dancers were terrific, with a large ammount of the show being tap-dancing numbers (whether with clapping sandals or tapping dress shoes). Each number had some kind of gimmick, too, related to the material. Jalisco had Mariachis, and Michoacan had a large dancing fish and men trying to catch it in a net. Julia and I thought it was a complete hoot, and when the last number came up (Jalisco: aka the home team), the crowd went crazy! Cheering, whistling, and having a ball, the show ended in a standing ovation.

We spent the remainder of our day in Guadalajara cruising the Mercado Libertad for gifts. I am improving my bartering technique, too! I can usually talk them down 25% of their "best" price, occasionally even 40%! I also learned that if they want to be stubborn, I say to Julia "Nah, that's too expensive," and start to walk away. About 50% of the time they'll holler back "Okay! I'll give it to you for 320!" They know that there's another guy selling the exact same thing next door.

Monday we took the 5 hour bus to beautiful Zacatecas. It is a windy, dry, beautiful city nestled in the mountains. The landscape reminds me of Albuquerque more than anything else, though Julia described the actual city as "The Switzerland of Mexico". Maybe it's a blend of both? The streets are narrow and winding, with gardens, plazas, and fountains nestled everywhere. You can see the looming mountains on all sides. The buildings themselves are clean, all different shades of pastel colors (think Easter eggs), and many date back to colonial times. Our accomadations are at the terrific Hostal Villa Colonial, right in the heart of the historic distric. We actually rented a studio apartment for the week for $100 with a kitchen, private bath, and stellar view of the nearby cathedral. We have full access to the hostal's facilities (just 10 steps away), such as free coffee, a 4 story high terrace, and (reportedly) the cheapest beer in town. Yes, the hostal sells beer, and it even has an impressive little library! The owner, Ernesto is the friendliest man you could ever hope to meet, offering to accomadate you in any little thing you could imagine. You need to do a load of laundry? Bring it here, I'll get it back to you by tomorrow. You want a broom for the apartment? I'm sending a cleaning lady over there today. He even plans trips to visit any place you could want in the area (so long as you have four people).

Towering over the hostal is the small mountain called "La Bufa"... meaning wine skin in Castellano Spanish. It's about 45 minutes to the top by foot, or you can take the Swiss-made tram car if you prefer (This makes Julia very proud). We've hiked up there almost every day we've been here, taking in terrific views of the town and the outlying mesas/mountains. There's reportedly even a zipline to the bottom, but I have yet to confirm this.

Yesterday we asked Ernesto to see if anyone wanted to go to the nearby ruins called La Quemada. Sure enough, he got a group together, and we drove about an hour away to the site. There were 11 of us tourists in the car, everyone spoke English, but nobody was from the US! It was a delightful change of pace. We chatted it up with Brits, Scotts, Canadians, a Frenchman, and a German. La Quemada is an archaeological site that dates back to the fifth century AD, and it's not discovered by the tourism mainstream yet. It is five levels high, and a formidable hike. Historians disagree as to whether it was a city, a fortress, a temple, or something in between. They also don't know for sure who lived there. Nevertheless, it's very impressive, very high, and very windy. There were signs all along the way informing us of the uses of the various structures (the seemed to all have some relation to human sacrafice though... even the ball court!).

As for our future plans? Well, it's up in the air at this point. On the 27th we'd planned on another WWOOF stint in San Miguel De Alende, but just yesterday our host pulled out because of financial concerns. We still hope to go to Guanajuato next, and we're considering a WWOOF farm in Michoacan that a couple at the Hostal recommended yesterday. Oaxaca may or may not happen, because it's very far away, and our allotted budget is reaching it's end. We can use more savings if we decide to, but that's always a tough choice to make.

I know it's been a long post. Now that we have internet access all the time, I'm considering updating more often (and if anyone out there would like more frequent updates, I'd like to hear from you). Also, if you're reading the blog, but not commenting, come out of the shadows! We love to hear from you as much as you like to read about us. If you're reading, but not following, start following so we know you're out there! And if you read it each week, tell us how things are back home, ask a question, or just tell us a funny story. A highlight of our day is to bring up our blog and see that we have a new comment. So keep 'em comin'!

Hasta proximo vez!

--Philip

Pop. 900 to Pop. 6 Million

2009-03-06T15:22:00.000-08:00

Our time on the Nayarit coast has finally come to a close. But we didn't leave before we had a few more memorable experiences and made a few more great friends.

As promised, Julia finally got to see her whales on Saturday! We took a "lancha" out from San Blas (nobody ended up coming along), and it was a three-hour round trip. Departing early in the morning, it took us about an hour of uneventful searching before Julia finally spotted a flipper on the horizon! We blasted toward them, but once we got there, they'd moved on. It took us a while to figure out where they'd come out next. But once we did get near them, it was a tremendous experience. The whales were, um... huge, as Julia pointed out about 50 times. We even got misted by their spray once. On the way back, we drove right along with 3 big humpbacks and a pod of dolphins. At our closest, we were within about 15 or 20 feet of them as they crested. You could feel a primal dread and awe of such a massive beast so close. We were unable to get any good photographs of them (because you had about 2 seconds before they were gone again). However, we did get some terrific video on Grandad's videocamera that we'll show you when we get home. On the way back, we saw this brilliantly white stone island in the middle of the ocean (white from pelican poop) topped with a statue of the Virgen of Fatima.

We ended our final Pacific-coast weekend with another trip to the delicious Garza Canella restaurant. We enjoyed it just as much as the first time, including the (very spicy) arbol chile and chocolate cake.

Perhaps the best part of our final week on the farm was the arrival of some new WWOOFers. We were joined by Phoebe on Sunday. She arrived during a massage we were having from a local lady (whom we heard about through a local gringa we met). We instantly fell in love with Phoebe, who was to room with us. She was quirky, easy going, and a great help around the house and the farm. She managed a farm in Boston and she's only 22! Later that day, another couple, Jason and Victoria arrived too. They're from Washington D.C., and they were a hoot too. They'd been camping in California for the last few weeks, and were slowly making their way to Argentina. Jason is fluent in Spanish, but is as American as Julia or me. He'd spent a year in Costa Rica teaching English classes. We really enjoyed working with these three WWOOFers (and they were hard workers), cooking together, and sharing stories. We were kind of their tutors for the first couple days because Amaranth was gone and Wally stayed pretty busy. We'll definitely miss them, but it's good to know Green Acres will be in good hands after we've gone.

Thursday morning we departed. Wally was picking up Amaranth from Tepic, so he offered to give us a ride there in his van. We said our goodbyes, got our tickets, and were soon on our way to the state of Jalisco. Jalisco is the birthplace of many things Americans think of as "Mexican". It is the cultural home of mariachis, rodeos, and tequila! There were a couple movies played on the three hour bus ride, but I was more interested in the scenery. It quickly changed from lush tropical jungle to arid farmland. The brownish landscape was broken up by beautiful seas of greenish-blue agave plantations, as far as the eye could see. About an hour outside of the city, we entered Guadalajara. There were probably over 100 miles of endless suburban sprawl. Guadalajara is home to over 6,000,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the country.

Taking a taxi from the Central, we arrived at our hostel about 20 minutes later. We checked in, and really were impressed. It's SO quiet compared to Aticama! There is wifi in the whole building, the beds are comfortable (I sleep on the top bunk), we get a free (if overly sugary) breakfast, and the reception is very knowledgable and helpful. We are in a room with 6 beds, but we are lucky enough to be the only ones there right now.

We quickly headed out on an evening jog to explore the city. What an enchanting place Guadalajara is! We are staying in a chic little barrio called "Nueve Esquinas" or "Nine Corners", that reportedly has the best birria restaurants in town. Birria is a type of stewed or roasted meat stuffed into tortillas with salsa, onions, beans, and chiles. Yes, it does sound alot like tacos. But we went to the place that is supposed to be the best. And boy was it GREAT! We shared a couple of plates, one with slow-fire-roasted goat meat, and one with tender lamb stewed in maguay leaves! We were talking about it for hours -- easily the best "Mexican" food we've had here yet.

Our place is also only about 4 blocks from the "centro". Thousands of walkers, lovers, and families stroll the area's endless plazas. Towering cathedrals loom over the cool gardens, and there are more statues and fountains than I could count. We caught a live performance from the city's excellent orchestra in one of the squares. The centro is also host to the legendary Mercado Libertad (a 4-story labyrinth of vendor stalls that covers 9 square city blocks) and a huge multi-story jewelry mecca. We visited both yesterday. Perhaps because of the lack of options we had in Aticama, or perhaps because we shopped for over 5 hours, we were finally overwhelmed by all the selection. In the Mercado they sell everything imaginable, from fruit to leather goods, whole pig heads to granola, video games to soccer shoes. And each stand comes equipped with an aggressive salesman or woman. We did get some great purchases though, including some jewelry for Julia, delicious meats, cheeses, fresh yoghurts and produce. Defeated, we fled back to the serenity of our room once more.

We're also walking distance from the city's primary food and bar scene. Last night we spent an hour hunting for the perfect bar, before settling into a hipster French-themed espresso bar and cocktail lounge. Today we went on a 2-hour long walk/jog through that area again (in search of a remote English-language bookstore). Through that search, we came to realize that Guadalajara has ALOT of restaurants and lounges from every culture. We found beautiful open air bistros, authentic looking Italian pizzerias and tratorrias, gobs of nice looking sushi restaurants, and even a Swiss restaurant! With a population of 6 million, I suppose we shouldn't be suprised that that culinary scene here is in the 21st century. We might be eating less Mexican food while we're in Guadalajara, simply because all the other stuff looks so good. So tonight it will probably be chianti and fettucini. Or... sushi and a Sapporo. Or maybe fusion nuveau Mexican...

In our last two days here, we hope to see a ballet folklorico, go to the Sunday antiques market, visit the beautiful Parque de Agua Azul, and more. We are still a bit overwhelmed... after all, this is the biggest city I've ever been in! It's so rich, sprawling, and huge, and yet it is still inviting and warm in the way only Mexico can be. I mean, last night we forgot our umbrella at a lounge, and the bartender chased us down 3 or 4 blocks to give it to us. God bless Mexico!

Saludos!

Philip

Tepic and back

2009-02-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

Well well, this week we started out on a trip to the capital of the state of Nayarit, Tepic. It has about 300,000 people and…a Wal-Mart…which we shall be discussing later. I really wanted to go there due to the fact that a lot of the native Huichol people live there and have many stands where they sell their gorgeous handmade crafts. I’m including a picture of something we bought for ourselves. It’s a sun and moon in gorgeously vivid colors, and all those colors come from teeny tiny glass beads that are glued onto a wooden back. It’s all hand done. I also bought a ton of jewelry for myself and for gifts to bring back.

The ride to Tepic from Aticama was quite a stomach-churner, its all switchback through mountain jungle for two hours. Poor Philip got quite green, but luckily we got there a little earlier than expected and there was a beautiful park where we sat to let our stomachs settle before exploring. It was a bit jarring to be among so many people again. But nice at the same time, it felt so much more energetic. We first headed to the zocalo where there was a beautiful cathedral that we poked our heads into during Mass. It was standing room only, and we felt a little out of place, so we didn’t linger. We walked around for a while trying to find the place where most of the Huichol stands were concentrated. Luckily, right in the center, there was a tourist info center and someone pointed us in the right direction. There was a large row of stands all down this one street. Behind every stall was a line of kids/teens all traditionally dressed and working on dozens of crafts. Apparently the Huichol are very anti-assimilation. They really wear their traditional dress, worship their own deities, and live apart from most of the big cities. Philip got his first taste of haggling in Spanish. This has been something that we have been hesitant to do out of fear that we might insult someone. But in all our guide books it says that haggling for everything in a market to taxi rides is permissible and expected. And the thought of having to bargain in a second language is a bit intimidating, but he got the hang of it.

After I had gotten my fill of jewelry buying, we stopped and ate some cold barbequed ribs that we had made the night before. So…good. We actually came across BBQ sauce in a small store in San Blas and naturally we had to have it. Philip doctored it up really well and we ended up with the leanest, tenderest ribs we’ve ever had. Granted it took us about 4 hours to make, but we certainly didn’t care. It was so worth it. Oh, and I also had some of the best soft-serve ever in Tepic, and I am a self-proclaimed soft-serve addict. It beat my old fave DQ hands down. We also ate some bananas we’d brought that were actually from some of the wild ones growing on the farm. As soon as one of them starts to ripen on the stalk you have to bring them in and hang them inside, otherwise the birds get at them. And apparently whenever a banana tree makes a bunch of bananas, that’s the end of it, you chop the whole thing down, and it has to start all over again.

After our market trip we were determined to get to the biggest supermarket we could. Wal-Mart loomed so familiarly down the road, singing siren songs of more selection than we could dream of. We could not resist. The minute we stepped in, I could just feel our recipes that we’d come up with at the farm getting better. We stayed there for hours just salivating. We actually didn’t end up buying a ton as we would have to trek it all on our backs back home. But real yogurt, flour tortilla mix (they were deLISH btw), Jose Cuervo Tradicional, fresh mushrooms, whipping cream, and a big bag of cacahuates dulces (basically a praline peanut) came back with us. We also came back with, very strangely, a bag of totally un-sour limes…they were very strange and disappointing. We headed back home before dark so excited about all our new purchases.

Tuesday, we had a visitor. While Philip was making amazing fajitas out on the grill, he heard this piteous mewling noise off in the distance. It got closer and closer and finally a little spotted kitten with big green eyes showed himself hovering around the light from the house. He was really skittish and we tried to shoo him away to get him to go back home, but he was obviously lost and all alone. I finally lured him towards a saucer of milk and after the first little pat on his head, we were best friends. He LOVED us. The minute we went inside to eat and left him alone outside, he would cry and cry, even jumping up on the window sill wherever we were to see us. He followed our feet wherever we went outside. I was concerned he would cry all night and keep us up, but he stopped after a while after we went to bed. But when I woke up at 6:00 the next morning, there he was, crying at the door. We figured out that he probably belonged to a small house at he bottom of the hill from the farm. We knew they had a ton of cats there, and he probably just wandered up the hill and got lost. So the next day we took him down and lo and behold, there were a bunch of other kittens all his same size, and the minute we put him down, he seemed at home. We went back to check on him today, and there he was, happy as can be. Mission kitten rescue accomplished.
The rest of the week went by without much ado. Amaranth actually left last Sunday for Arizona to help her mom move there from Washington DC, so it’s just been us and Wally on the farm. In her absence, she asked for me to keep up the house for her, so that takes up an hour or two of my morning. And we have had to go sans her lovely lunches and fend for ourselves. Philip and Wally completed the hen-house. The goose laid an egg; a massive thing that took her a whole day to deliver, poor thing. Then Philip and I dug up a completely new garden in the back of the cono. It was very hard work, pickaxing and then getting all the clumps of grass out to make the new garden. Then we hauled ancient dirt from the chicken coop as well as ash from the fire pile to mix into the dirt to make it extra fertile.
As usual, there was there were many yummy meals cooked. I managed to make speatzle and meatballs with a mushroom sauce…yum. I baked cinnamon rolls from scratch which we then gifted to some of our friends down in town. Philip made a true fire-roasted salsa as well as a gorgeous pineapple/shrimp shishkebab ring, the aforementioned ribs, fajitas with the homemade salsa and homemade tortillas. Then tonight’s orange-beef stir fry. Yummy.
Wednesday we got another animal surprise. We were down by the casita at the bottom of the hill, and on my way back up to the cono I saw Opie (one of the dogs) barking like mad. I thought he was just being silly, barking at us because sometimes he doesn’t recognize us. I was yelling at him to hesh up when I saw something rather large moving through the grass in the space between us. It was a HUGE snake, the thickness of my arm and about as long as me. I could see that it wasn’t poisonous, a constrictor of some type (thanks middle school science Olympiad). I want to say it’s a boa constrictor because of the gorgeous pattern on its skin. I yelled to Philip to “come see this HUGE snake” “huge snake?”, I could hear the doubt in his voice. I felt much better when he saw it and made the appropriate impressed noises. The snake made its way into a stand of grass and got into a defensive position all coiled up. We stayed back enough just to get pictures, we'll add some on here, but you should click on it so you can actually see him, he blended in so well. Philip managed to get some video of him slithering around too. Then after about 10 minutes of gawking we left him alone. Philip saw him again later on and managed to get some video of him. But we haven’t seen him since.
Today we went to Casa Manana to get their Wifi and we managed to book our first hostle stay in Guadalajara. We will be staying at Hostal de Maria from March 5th through the 9th, it had great reviews and the last wwoofer Gina had stayed there on her way here and liked it very much. Going from Aticama pop. 900 to Guadalajara with 6 million people will be a big change. But there are so many things to do there. Gorgeous churches, museums, parks, huge markets spanning 30 city blocks, ballet floclorico, tequila distilleries, and hopefully our first Mexican theatre experience are all things we are looking forward to. And it is less than a week away now. After that we are planning a trip north to Zacatecas, then back down to Guanaguato, then to San Miguel De Allende for another stay at a different wwoof farm. But that one will only be for two weeks. After that…who knows? Hopefully we wont be broke and can get the chance to head down to Oaxaca. Time will tell.

Today we were supposed to get a new roommate, Pheobe. But as yet it is 8 oclock and dark and she hasn’t shown up yet. We shall see.

Saturday it's whale watching!

--Julia

A Week of Waterfalls

2009-02-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hello again, faithful blog readers. It’s great to be able to post again and reconnect with everyone back home. Make sure to keep those comments coming so we can know how you’re doing too. And Charlie, if you’re reading this in San Blas, let me know!

My body is telling me something. My skin is a golden brown, and my Mexistache is filling in nicely. All this physical work and time outside is both invigorating and exhausting. I go to sleep completely spent each night, and wake up stiff but energetic each day at 6:30am sharp. My shoulders are tired from chopping wood for barbeques and swinging a pickaxe to dig trenches for chicken wire. My feet hurt from the steep 2 mile hike we take into town and back most days…sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. My palms are sore from swinging a machete at everything from bamboo to coconuts to banana trees (yes, I can chop an entire banana tree to the ground in one swing!). Every day at noon I shower off the layer of chicken filth and dirt that’s accumulated in my hair and in all my clothes… and underneath are the burns, scratches, bruises and bug bites that cover every inch of my skin. Literally every work day I haul hundreds of pounds of river stones from one specified location to another, either by wheelbarrow or by hand (Says Wally “What’s a day if you didn’t haul any rocks?”) Even the cuticles on my fingernails are shredded from the seven or eight hours I’ve spent threading fishing rope through sharp metal chicken wire. But the craziest thing of all is that I love it. I mean really love it. The feeling of a good day’s work on your muscles, the peace of the jungle at twilight, a dog by your side (preferably Opie, the three-legged wonder, or Sparky, the golden eyed Alpha male) and a beer in your hand – that’s a mighty fine thing indeed. I find myself each day, multiple times a day, thanking God for sending out into this beautiful land. We continue to have terrific adventures every day, and when Amaranth asked if we would stay an extra week in order to acclimate the new WWOOFers, (she’s leaving to help her mom move to Arizona)… we quickly said yes. Therefore, we will be staying until March 5th.

Remember us mentioning that Michelangelo reproduction on the ceiling of our house here? Well, the painter of that mural showed up 3 days ago to commission another picture in the home of Amaranth & Wally. We got to chatting, and I learned that he’s a nature lover. One thing led to another, and he ended up inviting me on a walk along the river to a beautiful valley he knows of. His name is Dante, and he’s 53. I checked with our hosts, and they said he’s trustworthy and everyone knows about his “nature walks.” We left around 4pm yesterday, and what an experience it was! He took off jogging, and I did my best to keep up with him. We ran a good 2 miles into the Aztec jungle, hopping from one path to another, jumping along river stones upstream, darting through barbed wire, and sliding down steep slopes. My thoughts alternated between “I feel like I’m on a hunt with a wizened Aztec warrior in the middle of the Mexican forest.” and “ I bet this guy’s going to lose me, and I’ll end up lost or macheted in a ditch somewhere.” Since I’m writing this, the latter obviously didn’t happen. Dante liked to stop along the river to dip his face in and drink. Every so often he’d warn me about this guy or that guy nearby who has a pack of dogs we might run into, or he’d let out a wailing grito (the Mexican cries you hear in Tejano music that sound a bit like a laugh). We finally ended up at a pool at the base of a beautiful waterfall. He stripped down and dove in with just his underwear on. He asked me to join him, but I declined (thinking, “Yeah, the second I do, he’ll run off with my shoes and shirt!). He slid down the waterfall, cooled off, then redressed and we headed back out. On the way back we ran into the dogs, and the owner, who graciously said we could use his road any time we want to return to the falls. Returning, we took a different route, and got a bit turned around. Upon asking a family in a truck that was picking fruit, they pointed the way, told us to jump in, and drove us there… through winding, forgotten roads, and past a little lake. Dante ate about 5 of their starfruits during the journey. We made it back before nightfall, and we had Dante over for a delicious spicy yellow curry and lentils that Julia prepared. We talked and laughed together as Julia practiced her Spanish, and then I escorted Dante back to town with my headlamp.

Speaking of waterfalls, Julia, Gina, and I visited a 70 foot high waterfall about an hour out of town. We booked the trip through the hotel in Aticama we use for internet. They hired a taxi for us with a preset rate (475 pesos, or around $35US for a 5 hour trip). We left Saturday morning from the hotel. He drove us out to a remote town, dropped us off, and he waited there the whole time until we returned. It was a treacherous climb down to the bottom, but once there, the girls swam, and I climbed up the rocks. The pool was supposed to be 40 feet deep, and boy was it cold!
We came back from the falls, cleaned up, and got ready for a fun day-after-Valentine’s Day dinner. Around seven in the evening we went to a restaurant called El Delfin, inside the Garza Canela hotel in San Blas. It was really exceptional, easily the best restaurant meal we’ve had here, and one of the best experiences together anywhere. The chef is a woman that trained under a 3-Michelin-Star chef in Paris, and this place is supposed to be one of the top restaurants in coastal-Mexico. We both started out with an appetizer, a curried seafood soup for me and an apple/avocado/goat cheese salad for Julia. Both fantastic. The wine list was…well…the only wine list we’ve seen in Mexico, so there’s not much to compare it to. The only wine by the glass was their house red and white, that was the only description, and Julia decided to get the white. The prices were amazing, about $3.50 US for a glass, which turned out to be quite enjoyable. Then entrees-- me with a seafood stuffed poblano swimming in a yellow saffron sauce, Julia with a tender chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and pear comfit with what seemed like mashed potatoes, all in a cinnamon-coffee butter reduction. They were both divine. We ate as slowly as we could, thanking our very kind and attentive waiter for everything. We were quite satisfied, but we had to look at the dessert menu. How could Julia resist a lemon cake topped with bananas, a caramel sauce and house-made ginger ice cream? She couldn’t. It also came out with a selection of house-cookies, little anise-flavored crescents, much like teeny biscotti and white/dark almond fudges. They even sent us home with extra cookies-- in honor of “el dia de Santa Valentino”. Best part was, for three courses, coffee, wine, and beer, our tab only came to $50 – and that includes the tip!
Needless to say, we left quite stuffed and immensely happy.

Julia will finally get a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. For her Valentine’s Day present, I promised we’ll go out and view the whales along the Pacific. There are lots of trips out there each day, but they cost a lot, so we originally decided against it. We’re going to work to put together a group of 6 to go out so we can all pay less per-person.

Gina (our room-mate) left on Thursday for Chiapas, Mexico. She decided to cut her stay short by three weeks (and we’ll be staying longer at Amaranth’s request). Our new roommate is named Phoebe, she’s 22, and she is supposedly the manager of a farm or farmers market in America. She's arriving in a week.

On Thursday we strolled into town laden with Julia’s famous coconut macaroons. We stopped and doled out care packages to our friends, and we’d stay and chat about Julia’s recipe, their families, and the quiet, quaint town of Aticama. Each day my love for the people grows. Wally and Amaranth have really opened up to us, sharing funny stories, recipes, and knowledge. Amaranth recalled to us the first time she went to her ancestral home of Tokyo, and how it felt to look like everyone on the street for the first time in 40 years. Wally’s eyes sparkled as he told me about his “Hollywood experience.” As we were salvaging old fence that was thick with twisting vines, he told me about the screenplay he wrote. He and Amaranth took the script to Hollywood, hired a company that held a mass “script-pitching” event, and he described his story to producers like John Malkovich. The infamously heartless L.A. left them misled, frustrated, and embittered, and he’s since soured on the whole screenwriting process. He’s going to let me read the script one of these days. Still, it was sad to see a seasoned, capable man like Wally walk away from something he seems to enjoy so much. He was a cook in the army, he worked crabbing ships in Alaska, he ran a junkyard, and he built his own house… but Hollywood was more than he bargained for. And the stories about the colorful WWOOFers they’ve had in the past 3 years have left Julia and me laughing ‘til we cried more than once.

Tomorrow we hope to be taking a day trip to Tepic. It is the cultural center of the indigenous Huichol Indians, famous for beautiful bead work. We only stopped there on our way to Aticama and didn’t see much, and it’s about a 2 hour bus ride. Hopefully we might be able to catch a van/taxi that leaves from Aticama rather than a bus, it would be much faster.

Be well, let us know how life is back home, and keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Until then, as they say in Aticama, se le vaya bien!

~Philip

Fiestas

2009-02-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Well then, here we are, 3 weeks into our Mexico experience. It’s funny how it doesn’t seem like its been that long and at the same time it seems like a lifetime. I find myself becoming more and more content and familiar with my surroundings. The fact that I don’t speak good Spanish doesn’t really hinder me up here at the farm, but my passive comprehension is getting better. But unfortunately the combined facts that Philip is such a good speaker and my perfectionist bent make that I haven’t much improved my speaking abilities. Ahhhh well. I can brag about becoming more bug resistant. The sight of a spider running over the ground next to my foot doesn’t induce heart palpitations, and the cold shower experience is…well…ok I’m not getting better with that. But I am proud of the bugs. The weather has been just lovely. My favorite time of day is after lunch when I have time to go down to the casita and take over the hammock that lies in the shade of two huge mango trees. The ipod provides the perfect soundtrack and I just sway in the breeze. The temperatures remind me a lot of swiss summers, warm sunshine and cool breezes are the norm.
We have had a run-in with the powerful pepper known as the Habanero. Amaranth had us seed them and dehydrate them so she could roast them and make this excellent pepper mix we use in the kitchen a lot. We had gloves and everything, but little did we know how much pain we were in for. Over the next 24 hours the strangest spots on our faces and arms, even Philips toe would start to tingle and then burn like heck for over an hour. In my desperation I tried everything, dowsing the spot with water or aloe or milk, but I finally found the cure….butter! Yep, I shamelessly slathered butter on my face in the middle of the night and boom! I was cured. That was an exciting find, and now we know. Butter cures all that ails ya. We've been making some consistently yummy meals: fresh made salsa, chicken fried steak, dry-rub grilled chicken, and so much more. A highlight is the meat, all fresh and local and cut by our favorite butcheress, Andrea, and the fresh, hommade cheeses by Ruth. I am incuding a picture of my personal favorite, panela....yum!
Speaking of butter and other yummy things, I think the biggest thing that has changed about me in my time here so far is my view of food. It’s quite different to have a lot of the food you eat come from right outside your door. The eggs that go into your omelet were laid that day. I have to say I feel so much better without access to all the processed foods and frozen things that were a part of daily life back at home. The meat here has also been exceptional; all that we’ve had here has been just recently slaughtered and not grown in industrial cattle yards but just from right there on the hill. The chicken probably saw the light of day, and not only that, it ate what it wanted. I think that despite the fact that those kinds of foods are so much more expensive back home, we will be changing how we eat. But time will tell, I have to admit to missing Aunt Jemima’s pancake mix and Cheez-its.
Right now we are sitting in our newest find, a hotel on the beach where you can come and hawk the wifi for free if you buy a drink. It has an incredible view of the beach and plenty of shade and a little swimming pool as well. I am sure we will come swimming here sometime soon.
With our time at the farm coming to its last half, we are looking forward to post-farm life and what we might do. Our current plan is to visit the huge city of Guadalajara (pop 6 million!) and the beautiful city of Guanajuato. From there we hope to find another farm to stay at for 2 to three weeks and then head our southernmost destination of Oaxaca. We will probably end up flying there as it’s pretty cheap to fly here domestically and the 4 days of bus trips it would take doesn’t sound really appealing. We have heard back from some farms, but nothing is set yet.
We shall be updating again soon I am sure, probably on Saturday or Sunday. Tonight apparently there is going to be a celebration in Aticama! Something having to do with the Virgin of Guadalupe. Tell you how that goes later!
Cheers till then.
~Julia

Later that week...

Well, as it turns out, the guidebooks were right, Mexicans will take any opportunity to party. It was quite the fiesta. It was neat to see all the families come out in droves, the pakcs of roving teens and the women all clustered together laughing and showing off their babies. The small zocalo was packed with people from all around, and it was refreshing to see familiar faces from around town and eat all the goodies. I finally got to have my first churros! This old woman and a man who may have been her son just set up this huge vat of boiling oil on the side of the road with this inredible dough-extracting contraption that they used to pipe them into the oil, then it was all coated in a sugar-cinnamon mix and wrapped in a paper sac....heaven.

The hub of the activity centered around this huge bamboo contraption called the "castillo" or castle. It was about 35 foot high and basically had these huge wheels attached to it that were peppered with fireworks and, when lit, would whirl around, spraying anyone who was near with a shower of sparks. There were 4 wheels, each with a sea-creature in the middle that would light up as it spun. Then the outline of the virgin of Guadalupe with the words "Vive la Virgen de la Guadalupe" burst into flame, andto crown it all, a whirling 3d Pegasus. Then the "corona" lifted off the top of the thing and went way high in the sky and burst into fireworks. It was all quite neat, dispite the fact that we were so tired and the fireworks started 45 minutes late. Thats Mexican timing for ya.

As for work on the farm, weve been focusing on building the Playboy Mansion of chicken houses, and uprooting and restarting a garden for greens. Most of the garden work atcually came from building a path through the raised bed. Its amazing how much time digging and placing rocks takes. Its shocking really. We also made a burn pile for all the random piles of palm fronds and sticks laying about. Now I know how a rotisserie chicken feels.

Today (valentines) we spent some time in San Blas on the beach getting blasted by sand, searching the tianguis (flea market) for some shirts and getting side tracked by the awfulness that was the baby chicks. There were these boxes of DYED baby chickens in every color imaginable, and not like...pastel colors either, bright blue, purple, pink, you name it. And to top it all off, they had these digusting little plastic baseball caps glued to their heads. It was rather ghastly, and it seemed like every single little kid had one or two. Ahh well, we also went to a place where our hosts told us might be able to help us get into a group to go whale-watching. We could go just the two of us, but it costs well over 1000 pesos, and the boats fit up to 6 people and it costs the same wether you have two people or 6. So hopefully something comes of that. We also found a mini-super with a few imported goods like extra-virgin olive oil and nutella!!Exciting!

We also just booked a taxi to and from a trail-head of the Kora waterfalls here. Apparently its a pretty easy hike there yourself, but getting the taxi to the trail-head and back there and back is tricky and a guy here at Casa Manana helped us book it. So tommorow its off to the falls!Love all of you!!!And happy valentines day!

~Julia

Hellspiders and Crocodiles!

2009-02-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

Another week in Aticama full of friends, crocodiles, chicken wire, and demonic lobster-scorpion-spiders!

We started off the week with a tour of the estuary. On Sunday morning we jumped into a boat with Zoe, Bard, LB and took off into the mangrove trees. Our guide, Pancho was no more than 15 years old, and he’d stop the boat every time we saw something cool. Black crabs with neon orange claws stalked the mangrove roots. Iguanas leapt from the canopies, and there were many amazing birds. We saw a tiger heron, a golden crown heron, many ibises, cranes, and hawks. But the stars of the show were the crocodiles. We saw 6 or 7 wild crocs of various sizes, from babies to fellows that would eat Julia in two bites! The first big one we saw just below the surface took our breath away! Such a terrifying, ancient beast, only a few feet away! The boat ride ended at a crystal-clear freshwater spring called La Tovara. It was fenced it (to keep out crocs), and was full of swimmers and people sipping beers from the small restaurant there. We swam, swung from the rope-swing, and headed back. We drove back MUCH faster, with some pretty aggressive 90 degree turns. I shouted at Julia to record the trip on her camera. She recorded for about 2 minutes and I shout “That’s probably good!” She turns it off, and (no kidding) 4 seconds later we drive right into two MONSTER crocs floating in the middle of the water way! All five of us in the boat shouted and screamed, the driver killed the motor, and they dived down and disappeared. We just barely missed having a home video of floating dinosaurs for you! Afterward we went to the San Blas beach. We drank Pacifico ballenas (Spanish for whales), bogey boarded, and little LB took one of the beach side horse rides. After a little dinner we headed home for our nightly ritual of fresh passion fruit juice and tequila.

On Monday our other house-guest, Gina, arrived. She’s a native of San Antonio, though she’s been working in finance in New York City the past 3 years. She’s 25, and dating a guy in the Air Force. They plan to move to Dayton Ohio to make a home after her Mexican travels. She had spent the previous month in Oaxaca, studying beginner/intermediate Spanish at a school down there. She’s a bit wimpy, but loves food.. She’s not much of a cook, though, so we help her learn techniques. Dinner has become her favorite part of the day!

We were taken off the road as our primary project on Monday. Wally called in a couple professional road layers to re-set the stones and concrete them. I still wake up each day and haul rocks into the truck or shovel cementante with Wally. We’ve stayed busy, though our work is much less back-breaking. We’ve harvested, peeled, and dehydrated coffee beans. We’ve harvested, juiced, and frozen limes. We’ve been up-keeping the gardens and paths, picking salads, helping prepare lunches, and laying mulch in the form of pumice pebbles. We’ve been doing a lot of watering. I helped Wally re-fence in a section of the chicken coop and thread the chicken wire into the existing layer. Apparently something was getting in somehow and munching the sleeping fowl. He also has a live trap, and this week alone he’s caught three hefty opossums. These are about twice the size of Texas opossums, and twice as mean too! Every time he gets a new one, I have to hold a bag while Wally snags a rope around their neck. Once noosed, the opossums splay their legs out, open their mouths, and go paralyzed (except their whipping tails)! In this state, we easily bag them, and Wally drives miles out of town to release the critters.

Zoe, Bard, and LB left on Wednesday. We wished them happy trails, they rolled down the road… and 20 minutes later they were back because the hood was smoking. Wally figured it out, and they headed out to New Mexico. We hope to reconnect with them when we head to Albuquerque later this year.

Life on the farm is pretty quiet. We have a predictable routine, but we still have discoveries and surprises each day. Such as the “noni fruit”, a tropical fruit that smells like an over-ripe Swiss cheese and supposedly has healing properties. I was delighted to order a ½ kilo of ground beef and watch the lady chop the meat off a huge beef side and grind it right there. When I said I wanted a half a chicken, she took a whole chicken, chopped it in half right in front of us, and asked “Which half you want?” We were invited into the home of the local cheese maker to see how she made it and taste the last batch (we saw her making panella)The tequila is delicious and cheap, the shrimps are huge and cheap, and the wandering pack of dogs have taken a liking to us (I like Sparky, but Julia prefers Penny). And after a failed attempt, we even succeeded in extracting delicious coconut milk and shredded meat we pulled from one of the towering coconut trees.

But the biggest shock we experienced would have to be on Thursday. Julia and I were rinsing off in the shower before lunch, and I started drying off. I looked down at my feet and saw a humongously big black thing, which caused me to yell, and jump away. Julia screamed and climbed the nearest wall. It was a hell-bug like none any of us had ever seen. It had the head of a scorpion, the claws of a praying mantis, the legs of a daddy long-legs, and a thorax of a cockroach! Yikes! On top of that, the body was 2 inches long, the legs spread about 7 inches, and the feelers were 11 inches from end to end! Worst of all, it was blocking our way out! We were trapped by this beast, with little weaponry, and no clothing. I threw a towel on it, then crushed it with a box. When Gina came to the house, we were recovering from the fright, and Julia shouted “Okay, Gina… Just know, it’s dead.” Gina tentatively entered the house, and (pre-warned) looked into the dust pan let out a blood curdling shriek! We spent hours musing over what it was and how hideous it was. Wally and Amaranth said they’ve seen one before, but they’re rare. They had no idea what its name was, but told us they think it’s harmless. Yeah. Think. Julia brings a headlamp to the bathroom at night now, and forces me to shake out our towels before any showers.

Eatin’s good on Green Acres. Amaranth always makes delicious vegetarian lunches on the week days We’ve had quiches, pastas, beans, chayote coconut soup, and a fresh salad each day. We sip passionfruit or lime juice as we chat on the patio terrace each midday. Our dinners are always delicious and elaborate. We’ve had barbecued oysters, serrano-stuffed jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon, shrimp coconut soup, and homemade marinara sauce on pasta, We’ve munched on shrimp tacos, coconut chicken curry, beef stir fry, and the thickest, juiciest burgers you’ve ever sunk your teeth into (with crispy home fries). Gina, Zoe, and Bard always get in on the excitement, and the evening project is a lot of fun. We’ve made mint mojitos, passionfruit margaritas, lemongrass tea, and even French toast with stale bolillos. Amaranth is a wealth of knowledge about the town, the people, home remedies, and food. Whenever we have a question about “How do you…?” she’s usually got a solution. She has a helpful spirit, as is generous with the treasures from her garden.

We've really enjoyed reading all the comments you guys leave. We've started replying in the Comment log, and we hope you keep the questions and comments coming.

Today we leave you with a picture of Alba. Alba is the matriarch of the Mendoza family that runs our favorite minisuper. She loves to yak it up with us, and always greets Julia and I by name. We talk about her health, the town, her hilarious drunk son Jesus, and everything in between. She also gives us free stuff if she doesn't think it looks good (like a free tomato with a "cuerno" or horn on the side). She represents the attitude of Aticama to me, and she really makes us feel like family. Hasta proxima semana!

--Philip

WWOOFing at Green Acres

2009-01-31T11:32:00.000-08:00

Here we are in beautiful Aticama! I got a touch of “la tourista” in San Blas, and we waited around all afternoon in the zocalo until 3pm to take a taxi out of town. The friendly cabby chatted it up with me on the way to Aticama, and we got there a bit early. We waited in the shady plaza. It was right on the rocky beach and we watched giant pelicans fly right in front of us. While waiting, a herd of cows was driven through the middle of the road along with all the car traffic. About 20 minutes later, the signature purple Chrysler van rolls up, 2 other WWOOFers hop out, and we hop in. They were just in town to shop, and on the way back, Amaranth told us to pick up any supplies we’d need at the mini-super.

Green Acres is truly a tropical paradise. About 1.5 miles out of town, it’s a 10 square acre sanctuary of beauty and tranquility. We learned that a hectacre is not 100 acres, but about 2.5 acres. We were greeted at the gate by the farm’s roving dog pack. There’s 7 of them, all rescued, and they are sweet as can be. Lucy, Sparky, Opie, Penny, Winky, Emily and Dupie! They also have a large pen of roosters, chickens, ducks and geese. All are pets, and none get eaten. The farm grows primarily mangos (to sell) and then every kind of herb, green, vegetable, and medicinal plant you can imagine (for themselves). Most of the farm’s water comes from rain collection and a mountain river source. But in dry times like now, the river is very unreliable. They conserve water as much as possible. The whole farm has a terrific view of the Pacific ocean and the surrounding beach.

There are four permanent residences on the property. Wally designed and every one of them himself. The “Casita” is essentially a camping trailer on a foundation. Exterior roofing, shower, kitchen and furniture has been added, and the whole thing has been screened in. That’s near the bottom of the property. Two other WWOOFers are staying their with their little boy.

A bit lower is a little home for an old grouchy Mexican named Lorenzo. Amaranth & Wally took him in because he really had nowhere left to go, and they thought he was a good gardener. Turns out he’s not a good gardener… or good at much of anything except sitting around. We only briefly met him, but he has a reputation around here for showing up late, doing very little work, complaining about everything, and botching the jobs he does do. Wally and Amaranth call him Larry, but he doesn’t know that.

We live in the “Cono.” It’s a nine sided guest home build mainly of concrete. It has two floors, two beds, one bath, and one kitchen. We are currently the only ones living here, but were are expecting a young woman from New York on Sunday. They rent out the rooms for $500 a week, or just stick WWOOFers there if it’s empty. We have a great kitchen, it’s cool all the time from the windows, and a passion fruit tree right outside our door! We’re truly very comfortable. We chose the bottom floor because it’s much cooler (though the top floor has a magnificent view of the ocean). There’s a huge plaster replication of Michelangelo’s Sistine chapel painting on the ceiling.

Last (but certainly not least) is the home of Wally and Amaranth. This place is truly a palace! Winding staircases, arched doorways, furs and whalebones, a Jacuzzi overlooking their orchards, painting studio, yoga room, computer room, library and more! The whole thing is cooled by the breeze. It’s a three-story home that Wally built in stages. The most impressive part is the kitchen and patio on the third floor. It’s all open air, gorgeously decorated, with a strong sea breeze and the smells of Amaranth’s most recent creation. When one eats lunch, they get a magnificent view of the town, the sea, and the sky, framed in palm leaves, hammocks, and brilliant tropical flowers. It truly is a something out of a fairytale.

Life on the farm is productive and ends relaxed every day. Wally is in his 60’s and wears the same outfit of a hat, Dickies overalls and the same crusty shirt. He’s Caucasian and was clearly a handyman in his younger years. He loves to drive this bright yellow mish-mash car with no doors, a Porsche body, and huge elevated tires! Style and power! Amaranth is a small, gentle Japanese-American whose first language is English. Neither of them are fluent in Spanish, but they get by very well. Nevertheless, they supposedly have a terrific reputation around town, largely for their open hearts and generosity to everyone. Amaranth abhors to hurt anything with a pulse, and her food is always vegetarian. She’s a terrific cook, as well, making abundant, diverse lunches that she serves every day at 1:00 sharp. We always say a quick blessing and sip on passion fruit juice and her latest creation with a greens-salad that was picked just hours ago. She’s a painter and intense foodie from what I can tell. She’s always relating things to raw foods, super foods, pickling, and fermenting. They always have lots of funny stories to tell, and they have been incredibly gracious.

We quickly befriended our WWOOFing neighbors, and we already feel like close friends. Their names are Bard and Zoey. They’re from Albuquerque NM, and they own a perma-culture business there. They are in their thirties. They spent two years in Zambia with the Peace Corps, and have WWOOFed in other countries like Australia. Their landscaping knowledge has been very helpful in guiding our projects. We work with them all day and at night we enjoy cocktails made of citrus, passion-fruit and tequila, while we work together to make a group dinner. Mostly we’ve been feasting on these giant blue prawns that Aticama is known for. They are so sweet, caught fresh off the beach, and run about $4.50/lb. What a deal! They also have a precious 1 ½ year old named Bard, but they call him “Little Bard” or “L.B.” for short. He’s always dirty, always having fun, and always exploring. It’s great to have him around to keep us lighthearted.

We wake up at 6:30am each day. The roosters start going crazy at 4:00am, and at 5:30 the lady on the loudspeaker gets crackin’. Apparently, the town has a lady that, for 10 pesos will blast whatever message you want throughout the city, and can be heard loud and clear from everywhere on the farm. She hollers about anything from advertisements for juice stands and tamales, to “Happy Birthday Maria, your parents home you love the cake they got you”, and “Benjamin, please come home. You’re breaking mama’s heart.” She blasts each one 5 or 10 times a minute or so apart. So far, we’ve worked primarily on cobbling a driveway up to house. The four of us have laid 65 feet of cobbling in three days. We dig into the rock with pickaxes, haul boulders over, fit them into place, and cover them with dry cement. It’s hard work and HOT, come 9:30am. We quit around 11. We also have been clearing banana leaves, building a palapa (straw hut), and planted, bordered, and seeded a vegetable garden.

Aticama is our favorite town so far. Small, beautiful, and the locals are all so friendly. I'm alreadybuddies with a dozen locals like Alba, Nini, Jesus, Angel, Lupita, Patricia, and Carlos. They love to chat, and it just takes a smile or a laugh to have them call you by name on the street.

We'll leave you with a final photo. This is Julia in the back of a Mexican's pickup truck driving into town! I started chatting with a guy that was waiting for a taxi with us. No taxi or bus came, and eventually his buddy rolls up. He says to hop in, and we did! Just look at that smile!

We love you all back home! You'll hear from us again within a week, maybe twice. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Hasta luego!

--Philip

More Bikes Than Cars

2009-01-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to McDonald’s! No...not the McDonald’s with the golden arches and meat of questionable origin and quality. I’m talking about the 50+ year old restaurant that’s just a block away, was founded by American expats, and is staffed by Mexicans. They have a massive list of Nayarit specialties, and it was one of the three restaurants that Norm said he’ll eat at. We asked if we could sit upstairs, and when we got there all the chairs were on the tables, and only the bartender was present. He immediately jumped to attention, sat us by the balcony (with a great view of the town and street below), and proceeded to guide toward an excellent dinner and evening. The place was dead… I mean dead. We got some “queso fondido”, a michelada & bottled water, and then asked Juan (our server) why nobody was there. We immediately became friends, and we talked about the menu, the town, his family in Guadalajara, and even what teams were playing on the TV. It was truly a beautiful night. We watched all kinds of colorful characters on the streets below as we enjoyed fresh fish from the Pacific, cream of oyster stew, homemade totopos (chips), and Modelo Especial (Modelo seems to be the favorite beer around here). Eventually more people began to arrive, and Julia could only do her best to bear the heavily synthesized Mexican love songs blasted overhead. She said “I could probably stay in Mexico much longer if it wasn’t for the music.” It would seem they do karaoke a lot of the time, but the business didn’t warrant it last night. We watched down below as the candy sellers and kids selling refreshments made their way home, new tourists freshly arriving with their luggage and smiles on their faces strolled down the street, and a pack of Americian highschool boys wandered down the road (Modelos in hand) with no clear idea of what to do with themselves or the beer (lots just got dumped out, and cans got crushed, without the gumption to litter). There was this one guy in a white truck that drove by at least four times. He has these massive speakers on the roof of the cab that were blasting some local pop station. The point? No idea. But Julia accurately pointed out “Mexicans are willing to go the extra mile.”

It would seem our night would end with peace, satisfaction, and a feeling of love for our fellow man. We crawled into bed, feeling lovely, and tried to go to sleep. About an hour later we were woken back up.It was around 9pm, and we started hearing this very loud, very bass-y music coming through our walls. Turns out, our hotel is right across the road from the local disco! From 9:00 until 4:30am (yes, I looked at my watch) this bone-rattling oompapa music kept us from sleeping much. On top of that, Julia had acquired a nagging shallow cough. She had the night before too, but when we turned off the air conditioner, it went away. But tonight (with no AC) she hacked and hacked without stop until morning (one cough per 15-30 seconds by my count). As we left our room in the morning, our upstairs neighbors said “A bit noisy last night, wasn’t it?” I hope disco isn’t popular on Sundays!

Speaking of Sundays, today is the beginning of San Blas’ International Migratory Bird Festival! The whole zocalo is prepared for the event, with a massive stage, tons of fold up chairs, and big boards with the schedule of events. Lots of tourists from all around the world are arriving too. Julia is really excited, and hopefully we’ll get to partake in a little of the action.

Our day started out with another visit to the mercado where Julia enjoyed a gordita harina (basically a fried flour pillow), and we sipped on fresh juice. One guy sitting next to us was cleaning a bizarre looking fruit, and I discovered that “Yakka” doesn’t mean “yucca” at all… it means “Jack fruit” ! Julia wasn’t brave enough to try it, so we sipped on a lovely blend of strawberries, pineapple and carrot juice.

We rented a couple bicycles today ($4.00 a day) and did as the locals did… riding to our destinations. The bikes are a bit rickety, and we had some tire issues. Still, it is a faster way to get around, and it seems true that bikes outnumber cars in this little beach town.
Julia was feelin a bit under the weather today. We spent a little time at the beach, and I went swimming. I think I caught one wave for every crab I stepped on. They’re everywhere, big, and cranky! I tried to convince Julia they just wanted a hug, but she wasn’t buyin it. Every so often a group of guys would come by with nets and a cooler and scoop them right out of the water! Yum! I can’t wait until we have our own kitchen down here. Julia was ready to head back, so we packed up and rode to the hotel. She decided to crash in the room, and I wandered around the town. I had the best tacos I’ve had yet at a little family place on the zocalo. Tortillas made in house, grilled on the griddle, and stuffed with your choice of fillings like tongue, tripe, and carne asada. Myself, I tried one with shrimp, one with marlin, and one with chicken. Que delicioso! You also got to help yourself to their topping bar, with 6 homemade salsas, pico de gallo, cabbage, pickled onions, radishes and limes. I overloaded all of mine with as much as they could hold (yes, one did break). At $.0 80 US per taco, I’ll definitely be coming back. I sat and watched the taxi queue that was forming 3 feet away and enjoyed watching them interact. When one taxi left the queue, the more fuel-efficient cabbies would just push their car forward without ever turning it back on. Mexican efficiency right there for you!

I also just got off the phone with Amaranth from our farm! We had a lovely chat, and she informed me that they only have dial-up internet, and most of the workers drive 10 minutes into San Blas for a faster internet connection. That means we will only be able to update this blog once or twice a week starting this Tuesday. So don't worry, we're not kidnapped! And we will be updating regularly, we promise.

--Philip

San Blas

2009-01-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

Above is Julia showing that "Estancia Las Flores" indeed lives up to its name! Yes, we've made it to San Blas in one piece, and we have fallen in love. Okay, so getting here was something of an ordeal, but we'll get to that in a moment. For now, we're happy, full of sun, sand, fish, tequila, and joy.

Yesterday we woke up bright and early, ate some "questionable" looking pork tacos from a rickety street cart. Julia bit the bullet, and we chowed down right there on the sidewalk. (Still no "Tourista"!) We did a tiny bit of strolling and grocery shopping, but we were honestly ready to get out of Puerto Vallarta. The town is crawling with hawkers, beggars, clueless tourists, and an extra helping of Mexican filth. We asked the hotel receptionist when the bus to the bus station comes. She says "Oh, all the time. Every 5 minutes." We camp at the right spot... and 45 minutes later (right when were ready to throw in the towel) here it comes! We rode to the station, purchased tickets to Tepic and got aboard our bus. It was definitely the most comfortable seats we've sat on here, and they had AC. Julia was greatly relieved! It was a twisty, 4 hour bus ride through the jungled mountains. Every 20 minutes or so, the bus would stop and someone would jump on selling food, drinks, and other goods. We finally pulled into Tepic (quite carsick), purchased our tickets to San Blas, and the lady told me it left in two minutes! We ran as fast as we could... but we missed it! So, we bought a ticket for the next one (an hour later), pulled up some stools at a little food booth, and munched the hour away. Delicious quesadillas, "burritos", pepsi and salsa! I also was educucated on what "pierna" and "sincronizadas" are (pork and a combination of pork/chicken). We used the pay-per-use banos and watched little Mexican chiquitos bumbling around.

--Philip

Ok MY turn to write now. :) It has been quite an experience for me these past three days I have to admit. I've pretty much run the gamut of emotions, but I can happily say that now, here in San Blas I am quite at peace. We had a rather interesting ride here, with us confused about which bus we had to take in order to get here from Tepic, and it was an interesting ride in it

self. The bus driver had the most interesting side-kick, a man who looked about 30ish with swinging arms, a bit of a belly and a nasty cold. He would just stand at the front of the bus chatting it up with the driver, at one point actually stopping the bus in order to hit on a lady just standing on the side of the road as well as breaking out a little mini tv to get a signal in the bus.

After a rather bumpy and winding road, passing little colonies of towns with little dirty children and chickens and pigs, we finally arrived in San Blas. We got out of the bus, grabbed our luggage that of course had migrated to the very back of the holding cell under the bus, and stepped into the street. We had not a single clue where we were, I start feeling the panic creep up on my face and there across the street we see the zocalo (the middle square of the town) and I see a rather white, middle aged woman looking at us from across the street with the look of pity on her face. She comes up to us and directs us to a group of three people sitting in the zocalo on a bench, one, we are told, is "Norm" and will be able to answer all our questions. Lo and behold Norm and his wife Janet are ex-pats who hacve lived here for 42 years. With them was the sweetest little Canadian lady, Inge. We chatted it up abit with them, and they not only pointed us to our little hotel, but also directed us as to where was best to eat and so forth. We went to our hotel to clean up and also buy some new bug spray, because apparently the OFF we brought with us actually ATTRACTS the bugs. This was the discussion that brought us to this conclusion. As follows:

Janet- You got bug spray? Us-Yeah Janet-I'd put it on right now Us-Oh ok ::shuffle in bag to get out the OFF and start spraying it:: Janet-Is that OFF? Us-Um, yeah Janet-That actually attracts the bugs ::stop spraying::

I thought it was rather humorous. We then learned MUCH to my delight that the rumors we had heard in Puerto Vallarta were true, Humpback Whales are here right now off the coast mating and having little (ok, not that little) babies. If you know anything about me, you know that I about fainted with delight at the prospect of going whalewatching. Norm offered to help put us in contact with someone who can take us out. I will update you on how that turns out. Mark my words, I will make this happen.

So after we chatted with them, we headed off to a nice dinner, then to bed. This morning we woke up around 7:30 and headed to the local market that Inge had mentioned to us for morning grub. Boy were we excited, we made off with two huge drinks of fresh (as in just squeezed in front of us) orange quice mixed with blended whole bananas, papaya, strawberries and pineaple. De-LISH. We also had a yummy "torta" basically a chicken or pork mixture topped with lettuce and tomato on a bollilo. With our tummies full, we bid Inge farewell and headed to the beach.

It was about a mile walk from our hotel down to the beach. Playa de Borrega. It's just beautiful, not only was it almost deserted, but right when we got there I spotted a pod of dolphins hanging out just like a quarter of a mile into the ocean. Naturally I thought they were whales at first and almost had a fit, but Philip calmed me down with "they're dolphins" and I could breathe again. They were way fun to watch, as were the couple of young mexican kids out surfing. Philip was pretty much green with envy as we watched them catch every wave coming in and out. They aren't big, but fun looking enough. I am sure Philip will want to try this as soon as possible. And I am also sure I'll get some good pictures out of it. We walked a long way down the beach and back. We had no towel so we mostly just waded and then sat in the sand for a while. For lunch...oh boy...a whole fried fish served with tortillas and fixins, along with a fish torta, a Corona for Philip, a freshly macheted Coconut for me and a cocktail glass full of oysters for Philip. And it was all about 10 dollars, thats Mexico my freinds.

So in all, we are quite happy here in San Blas, where the bikes outnumber the cars and yummy food a plenty. We go to our farm on Tuesday, but I am sure more adventures await us here in San Blas.

Until next time,

Julia

2009-01-22T17:41:00.000-08:00

We've finally touched down in Mexico!

We are greatly enjoying ourselves, though Julia is (admittedly) experiencing some culture shock. Our flight was uneventful, but we did enjoy viewing the beautiful mountains and desert. We touched down, got through baggage claim uneventfully, and were immediately accosted by a guy asking what hotel we're going to. We told him, and he pulled us aside telling us all the vital info about Puerto Vallarta, including which buses to take and delighting in our Spanish. We eventually learned that he works for a resort in P.V. , and was hoping to persuade us to book some time there. We didn't take the bait, largely because we are only staying here one night. We thanked him for his services, stepped outside, and were immediately overwhelmed by the heat, dust, and traffic! We weren't totally clear which bus to take, even though buses passed by us every few minutes. The Americans that appeared every now and then were completely unhelpful, and eventually I just had to jump aboard a blue bus and shout at the driver "Van al Centro?" He said yes, and we hopped aboard.

The bus was old, dusty, filthy, full of locals, and had incredibly uncomfortable seats. I paid the guy $5, and told him to keep the change ( even though it only cost about $1.80 for both of us). He wasn't sure what to do. The roads really are horrible, and our driver wasn't older than 19. It was pretty jarring. Julia and I argued about when we should jump off, but at her insistence, we got off at the perfect time. There were no announcements, or signs of any sort. We headed down the road, past taquerias, beggars, and barbers, and inevitably made it to the Hotel Belmar.

We tried to check in at reception, but the lady (well into her 50's) insisted she couldn't find our reservation. After must searching, we discovered our credit card had been rejected (it often is for over-seas charges) and the reservation had never been made! Fortunately, I insisted we get some cash in Houston before we leave, so we were able to pay in cash. My Spanish got us through quite effectively, and inevitably, we got a room on the fifth floor. The lady apologized that it was so high up, but pointed out we'd get terrific excercise. Our room was small, cute, and avocado green. Our internet worked just fine, and we got a great view of the hotel the whole way down. We set up base in room 26, left, came back, and realized our key was actually for room 27! We had entered the wrong room by mistake (it was left open by a maid, we think) and were then unable to get back in. We told the ladies downstairs, and they had a good laugh before giving us a different key.

After we got that all sorted out, we got some pesos from an ATM, and wandered along the beach and the river. We did see some cool wildlife, including a giant iguana, some beautiful pelicans, and lots of fat, loud, oblivious Americans. We grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby seafood taco stand called "La Calamari Adventuroro" yes... The Calamari Adventurer. Julia munched on some smoked marlin tacos and bottled water, and I enjoyed a delicious octopus tostada and a Pacifico beer! Yum! We sat at the "bar" and got a front row view of the kitchen and cooks. Sanitary? Questionable. Cheap? Certainly. Delicious? Definitely.

We headed back to hotel, cleaned up, rested, made a few essential phone calls, and headed back out. As this is a tourist/party costal city, not much is happening at 5:00pm when we headed out. Hence, our restaurant of choice had nobody in sight... including staff! We wandered around, and inevitably hit a beautiful island between the two rivers called "La Zona Romantica." It was a manicured, picturesque tourist walkway, flush with all the lanterns, scenic views, and posh restaurants one could hope for. We stopped to chat with one of the resaurant owners, and inevitably chose his restaurant for dinner. We enjoyed his sense of humor, margaritas, pico de gallo, tortilla soup, fresh fish, and "large shrimp" (e.g. prawns). It was thoroughly enjoyable, with a great view of the river walk. Julia did get a bit freaked out when she pieced together that frozen Margaritas have ice... and ice gives you "la tourista" (the infamous Mexican intestinal illness) . I wasn't especially worried, since it was a fairly swanky restaurant and a place won't stay in business if it's best seller to Americans make them sick. We also hesitated over the pico de gallo, and the free salad, but I said "What the hay?" and Julia eventually followed suit. We had planned to hit another place afterwards, but either from the homemade chips or the long day, we were ready to turn in afterwards. The meal was probably the most expensive we'll have in Mexico (around $46.00 US), but it was less than half what a meal like that would cost in the US. We've agreed that from now on we're going cheap street grub all the way (at least for a while).

Tomorrow we have to take a bus to the "Central", then take another one to Tepic, switch buses, and head to San Blas. We'll update you once we're there!

Final Days

2009-01-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

Today I succesfully called our host farm in Aticama! I just got their answering machine, but the wife (Amaranth) is DEFINITELY American, and her voicemail is in English! I left her a brief message. Skype is an amazing program. Only $0.09 a minute to calle to Mexico, and only $0.02 to call to switzerland! We can save people as our contacts, and autodial them, just like a cell phone.

I then called our first hotel we'll be staying at. It's in Tepic. We should be arriving there on Thursday afternoon. It's about 3 1/2 hours away from the Puerto Vallarta airport, and we'll be taking the bus. The bus leaves every hour, and our travel guide says there's a tourist center right outside the bus station! Perfect! Anyway, I talked to the receptionist at Hotel Morelia. It's only about $9.00 a night for the both of us, and our guide says it has a "lush courtyard, big, clean, white rooms, and shining floors." I was pretty intimidated to have my first telephone conversation with a Mexican in interior Mexico, but it was just fine. He had to repeat things once or twice, but I managed to make a reservation and ask my questions. He seemed taken aback when I asked if anyone there spoke English ("Nooooo...") or if they had the internet there ("Noooo... No tenemos el internet aqui.") I could hear the slightest bit of a smile in his voice. When I asked how far from the Central Camionera (bus station) was from the hotel, his response was "You can take a taxi here for about 30 pesos." Hmm... Not exactly what I asked, but helpful nonetheless.

Our guide says "The best of Nayarit's bounty -- most notably seafood and fruit -- gets served in Tepic." I can't wait!

Monday will be my last full day in Austin. Tonight is my last night at Bellagio, after over 2 years of employment with them. Thursday will be our last day in the United States. Tomorrow is my birthday and I'll be holding a birthday/going-away party here at my family's house. It should be a wonderful time -- a chance to catch up, say goodbye, and spend one more evening with the people we love.

--Philip

A sigh of relief

2009-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

YAY! So yesterday my dear mother informed me that my passport had safely reached its destination, thank GOODNESS!!! I was so worried about that, God knew it, and he showed me a little mercy by not making me chew my nails on it.

Got our Hep A shots yesterday which turned out to be just fine and dandy. It was like a flu shot, short and sweet. We got them at the CVS minute clinic, which is the BEST, by the way, for us uninsured folk. There's no line, a real doctor in the office and a whole range of services at really affordable prices. I know it sounds like I've been paid to plug them, but the past two times we've went we've had such a good experience, really nice, knowledgeable people, all in all great.

It's amazing, most everything has fallen in line. The last major things we need to pick up or do we are gonna get done today, and then the last thing is just to pack. Crazy, in ONE WEEK we will be in the air flying away.

Unfortunately I have a bit of a head cold, but I'm alright, just a little under the weather. Hope everyone is staying warm and healthy and we'll post again soon I'm sure.

OH! Ps- Philip's showcase went great, now we just sit and wait for an agent to call. We will keep you updated!

Phone stuffage

2009-01-12T10:19:00.001-08:00

Ok, so i just got off the phone with Sprint learning about how we will and will not be able to use our phones.

As it costs 1.69/minute for calling, we will be using it in emergencies only. Primarily we will be using our Skype account (basically we can call anywhere in the world from our computer via the Internet for around 2 euro cents/min). However, no one is able to call us back obviously. So if you get a vmail from us, dont try to call back on the number.

We will be getting coverage and able to check our voicemail in many of the towns we plan to stay in, however at our farm we will have jack squat as far as cell coverage, but we will have Internet access.

Also, if we are in an area in which we are able to send texts we most definitely will as it only costs us 20 cents/text! So look out for those!

The thought of going without cell phones and being tied to our little faulty laptop is quite a scary/cool proposition. It will be so refreshing not to be tied to my little white cell phone. But at the same time i know it gives people a sense of security to be able to contact me, and for that reason I am sorry that we will not always be able to contact people. But this is the best we could do and even if worst comes to worst, our computer/cell phones all get stolen or something , we will always be able to find an internet cafe/hostel that will allow us to check our email and contact people. We will try to use email and updating this blog as a means of letting everyone know where we are/how we are doing.

As for our trip, we are having a slight change of plans. Our farm contacted us the other day asking if we could withhold coming to them until the 27th as they have had a proposition from someone to rent their little guest house that we will be using until then. So as we have already bought the tickets for the 22nd we will be flying in that day to Puerto, but we will go to Tepic for a few days and then San Blas for the remainder of the time before we go to our farm. Those are the two closest towns to our farm, and both have really cool things to check out, so we are just fine with this little change of plans.

Everything seems to falling together, the one thing that is really worrying me at the time being is my passport. Since i got my name changed so late, i had to send in my passport along with a chunk of money to Pennsylvania, and now i just have to wait for it to come back. And its guaranteed to at the very latest be in the DAY BEFORE we leave. Yikes...but hopefully it will come in before that.

Ok peeps, im gonna try my hand at putting in a photo of the place we are going to be, Tepic.
Bye for now,
Julia
ps- if anyone is reading this in the Austin area, Philip's birthday is on the 18th, and we are planning a potluck Philips birthday/were going away party. Will keep you updated on the time choice ect.

Tickets

2009-01-04T21:56:00.001-08:00

Well, today we purchased our ONE-WAY tickets to Puerto Vallarta for Jan 22nd. Everyday that goes by just gets me more and more excited about this whole thing. I'm reading all our Mexico travel guides and getting revved up for the farm and the travels to follow. I am going to send all the peeps on my email base the link to this site so that you can follow up on us while we are gone, hopefully we won't be having too much a fantastic time that we can't keep up with it. Hopefully I can also add photos as well as funny stories that I am sure we will be experiencing.

There are still many things left on the list to do like getting me a passport with my new name (Julia Lorenz-Olson)on it, and getting the Hep A shot, buying a good set of travel carry-on bags with wheels, not to mention packing, and hopefully getting an audition scheduled for us in Houston right before we leave.

We will update more as the date nears, and if anyone has a problem posting responses on this, just let me know!

Much Love,
Julia

A New Year, A New Journey

2008-12-31T11:09:00.001-08:00

Twenty two days and counting until Mexico!

We're getting so excited about our upcoming excursion south of the border! Over nine months ago we decided to take this trip, and we can't believe it's already here. There have been some bumps on the road to this adventure, but we are still sticking to our plan. Instead of driving (our original plan), we shall now be taking a plane to Puerto Vallarta. We also hoped to leave earlier, but a rescheduling of an acting workshop pushed us to mid-January. It's 2009 tomorrow, and what better way to kick off a new year than with a road trip with your best friend? We had such a great time driving to Florida for our honeymoon, a trip like this had never been far from our minds. With Julia's graduation in December, and the lease on our apartment ending the same day, the stars seemed to be aligning in our favor. We shall both be quitting our jobs, all of our belongings lie in storage, and we have no set return date! The plan is to fly out of Houston on the 22nd, and return..... whenever we so choose!

Our first destination will be a tiny coastal village called Aticama in the state of Nayarit. We shall be working and living on a farm owned by Amaranth and Wally Carlson. The farm grows 450 acres of organic fruit trees. We discovered them through an international organic farming initiative called WWOOF. Check them out here if you want. In essence, we work on the farm for 6 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Our work day begins at 8am, and we're done by 2pm. In exchange, our host farm will provide us with lodging and one meal per day (dinner). If everything ends up how we expect it to, our living expenses will be virtually nothing, and we'll get evenings and weekends to explore the town. We are only a mile from the Pacific beach. Our guest room will have warm water, heater, a private bedroom, electricity, and even internet! The host family describes their farm as "like a monastery." They are vegetarian, though the locals eat alot of fish. Our stay is scheduled for one month. We look forward to living a simpler, more physical existence, getting in shape, getting some sun, and learning Spanish! What a true blessing from God this will be.

After our time on the farm, our plans become open again. We might decide to work on another farm with the WWOOF program, or instead travel from town to town, living in hotels or hostels. Regardless of our decision, there are a handful of cities that we agree we HAVE to visit while we're there, including: Zacatecas, Guanejuato, Guadalajara, Tequila, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, and Merida (probably our final destination). The bus system in Mexico is one of the finest in the world, and for a mere $10 or $15 we can safely and comfortably hop from one town to the next.

Julia is slowly but surely learning more and more Spanish words. I am speaking Spanish every day at work, though it's slower than just speaking English with my bilingual friends (they humor me). We've also started exercising more regularly, so that the labor at Green Acres won't kill us the first day. We still have a list of things to take care of before we leave, but it regularly shrinks. We still have to get Hepatitis A & B shots, get lots of all our prescription medicines, notify our credit cards of about our trip, put our remaining clothes in storage, and print/email copies of all our important legal documents.

We will keep you updated as the day grows closer. Take care and keep in touch!

--Philip

Travel With Us

2008-12-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

Ahoy friends and loved ones!

This is the beginning of Julia and Philip's travel blog! We decided to create this so that we can keep you posted on our world travels, and so we can have a place to share our photos and videos! We encourage you to leave comments and ask any questions you might have. We shall regularly be adding entries so we can share the adventure with you!

--P&J