Little Miss Sunshine Tours Mexico City

As you know, I really love living in Mexico City. Sure, it’s got its quirks and hassles, but they are mostly outweighed by the museums, sculpture, restaurants, parks, nearby colonial towns and beaches, pristine nature, and the overall freshness of living in a new environment. I relish the opportunity to show my friends and family from home around my new city, and even put them up while they are here. Regretfully, I haven’t been able to extend that hospitality as much as I would like, the lone visitor to Mexico City so far being my very well traveled friend Nik. That’s why I was totally pumped when I learned that we would be hosting Bob and Yoonhee, and their beautiful daughter Sunshine, for the first part of my spring break week.

The first benefit of having visitors from back home is their impending visit lights a fire under your ass in terms of getting things in order. First, we went out shopping for a crib and stroller/car seat for Sunshine to use. Honestly, though I am going to have a baby of my own living with us in four short months, I have given little practical thought to how we will accommodate the little guy. This foray into the world of actual baby items brought me to a new level of “wow, this is really going to happen.” I also went out that week and bought Ale a desk to put in the unused quarter of the open area of our apartment. Staying up late putting it all together for her to wake up to made me also feel like I was preparing for fatherhood, as I will likely be doing similar late night preparations of Christmas gifts for Miguelito Jr., or “Beto” (short for Alberto) which we think we may call him. We have a second bedroom in the apartment, but it was mostly being used as an unceremonious storage closet for the many boxes we’ve accumulated over the past three moves. The night before they arrived I scrambled to sort and consolidate, locating many a lost article—“oh, so THAT’S where that’s been!” Having found as much as I did, I am now committed (no, really!) to spending all day some upcoming weekend to a more thorough and complete job. I also managed to do some last minute replacement of kitchen tiles, mount a shelf for the toaster oven and hang a large picture that had long been on my to-do list. Finally, after several days of preparation, we were ready to welcome our friends to our (relatively) new (to us) apartment.

Things got off to a scary start when the traffic down the main highway to the airport, Viaducto, was uncommonly jammed at 10 pm. Ale figured the construction of another east-west artery in the northern part of the city may have been the culprit. My anxiety grew as it took close to 45 minutes to reach the airport and we had not discussed a contingency plan of contact if we were not there to greet them. My worry was for naught, as Bob, Yoohnee and Little Miss Sunshine appeared out of customs about 30 seconds after our arrival! The ride home took less than 10 minutes, so they missed the opportunity to experience a staple of Mexico City life, stiffling traffic. As we drove home, Bob commented on the experience so many have when flying over the city at night—“It’s SO huge!”

My buddy Jim Weathers was leaving the next day for the Dominican Republic, so he stopped by to meet my friends. He arrived in a state common to those who know him: inebriated and elevated. Despite the presence of the baby, he carried on in his jovial manner, complete with “fuckin’ ‘ell” this and “mother-fuckin’” that. We all got a big laugh when Bob, miming for Sunshine seated on his lap, began moving her arms, pointing at Jim and saying, “Hey, who is that crazy mother-fucker over there?!” Jim’s girlfriend Laura soon dragged him away (I suspect) for some last chance lovin’ (she would not be joining him in the DR) and Bob and Co. headed for bed after a long day of traveling.

While I had managed to get the day off, Ale had to work, so I decided to take our guests on a general tour of the city. We began with a walk up Nuevo Leon where we soon encountered a Friday street market on Campeche. Yoonhee took advantage of the cheap fresh juice available and I shared with them the common Mexican treat of jicama, a sweet root covered in lime juice and chile pepper. As we meandered our way through the side streets of La Condesa, we discussed the perfect weather conditions, and how “surprisingly nice” the neighborhood was. La Condesa, named after a countess who once owned the original hacienda, was developed as a neighborhood beginning in the 1920’s and features an array of art deco architecture. It was home to the rich and famous of Mexico City until the big earthquake of 1985, when those who could, fled for newer (earthquake ready) upscale neighborhoods. This left Condesa in decline for a brief time, only to become the trendy revitalized area it is now that so impressed Bob and Yoonhee. Finally, we arrived at the nexus of this trendy little neighborhood, the intersection of Atlixco, Michoacan, Tamalipus and Vincente Suarez where we had a delightful brunch at café Buena Tierra. Bob ordered some Chilaquiles, a very traditional Mexican breakfast dish consisting of tortillas covered in a red or green sauce, cream, onions and your choice of chicken or fried eggs on top. Yoonhee ordered another Mexican staple, though I can’t remember what it was. Both loved their meals. (I specifically remember what Bob had because he asked me to repeat the name of it to him 50 times over the next few days: “CHEE-LAH-KEE-LEHS”)

After eating, we headed over a couple blocks to Parque Espana, the smaller of two fairly large parks in our part of town, where we made our way to a shady bench. Sunshine was too young to make use of the enormous jungle gym contraption that sits at the heart of the park, but she was very much entranced with the sights and sounds of the fountain near our bench in a small pond. Her excitement practicing her walking also garnered her smiles from the old man seated next to us, enjoying the shade and eating fresh oranges. Next, I walked them through Roma—my old neighborhood—where I showed them my old apartment building and introduced them to my old favorite street taco place. (Yes, it had only been about an hour and a half since brunch, but Bob doesn’t need much of an excuse to eat!) I ordered an Alambre, a mix of steak, pork, peppers and onion, which he and Yoonhee devoured. We then headed further north to the beautiful Diana fountain, where we turned right for a stroll down Paseo de la Reforma, the “Champs Elisee of Mexico City.” A flower market lined the wide pedestrian promenade, offering visual and olfactory stimulus to the already beautiful, tree-lined thoroughfare. When we stopped at the golden Angel of Independencia, the most famous landmark and de-facto symbol of the city glimmering under the blue sky, it was time for a few comments on Mexican History. I explained why, unlike in America, there is a difference between the war of “Independence” and the war of “Revolution” in Mexican history. Independence refers to the war against the Spanish Crown, between1810-1821, and Revolution refers to the civil wars and political upheaval against the ruling elite, and between competing political factions between1910-1921.

The boulevard on which we walked also draws its name from another major period of political transformation in Mexico’s tumultuous past. La Reforma occurred (for the most part) under the beloved indigenous president, Benito Juarez, between1854-1876. These liberal reforms stripped the Catholic Church and the military of their many privileges and undemocratic political influence. The reforms also provided further protections and considerations for the average Mexican citizen established during the revolution, including a “Mexican Bill of Rights.” Paseo de la Reforma, the boulevard now honoring these improvements, was ironically constructed by the “Emperor of Mexico” Maximilian I, as a gift for his wife, Empress Carlota. Maximilian I assumed the throne of the Mexican Empire in 1864 with the help of French Emperor Napoleon III, who was looking to expand his influence in the Americas. (His blue coated troops were the bad guys in the Zorro movies.) Rather than retaining the name of the Empress, the boulevard Reforma now honors the democratic changes of the man who deposed her interloper husband and had him executed. Ha! Take that PUNK! (Sadly, his last words were, “Viva Mexico!”)

Next we hopped in a cab and headed downtown to El Centro, another area teeming with history. We jumped out at the beautiful Bellas Artes, a palace built as a cultural arts center at the early 20th Century. It houses a theatre, concert hall, and galleries for exhibitions, such as the Frida Khalo exhibition I saw last year. As it was awfully bright out, we headed over to the adjoining Parque Alameda for some more shade, where Sunshine got some fresh mommy-milk and Yoonhee and I had some icy treats. We then strolled down Avenida Cinco de Mayo (which is not the date of Mexican Independence or Revolution) toward the imposing Zocalo, the enormous central plaza of the city. All Spanish founded cities have such an arrangement, and even small towns have a modest version, but there is none that I know of larger than this one. It is the site of many traveling exhibitions, such as the Nomad Museum’s photographic exhibit, Ashes and Snow last year, as well as the site of many types of demonstrations, celebrations and events. At one end of the square lies the Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest and oldest cathedral in Latin America. It took over two hundred years to complete and is an amalgam of styles, though mostly Baroque. On the other three sides of the Zocalo stand the massive colonial structures that once served as the Palace of the Spanish American Viceroy and the seat of the colonial government which ruled from this location on behalf of the Spanish Crown from 1535-1821. (The other New World viceroy was the Viceroyalty of Peru, seated in Lima, which governed from Panama to Tierra del Fuego before being broken up into smaller viceroyalties due to problems with communication and transportation.) Today the National Palace is a museum, housing the original legislative rooms of the young Mexican Republic, as well as the famous murals of Diego Rivera depicting the history of Mexico. The only actual governing body remaining on the Zocalo is the city government. Perhaps the most famous annual event that occurs here is “El Grito”, a ritual re-enactment of the original call (or “grito”) for independence by the mestizo-sympathetic priest, Miguel Hidalgo. Tens of thousands gather under the palace balcony on September 16 to hear the president proclaim, “Viva Mexico!!!” thus signaling a burst of fireworks, singing, dancing and general Mexican revelry. I haven’t attended it there. I felt nearly crushed among the crowds at The Grito in the relatively small town of San Miguel de Allende two years ago, so don’t think I would appreciate the hording masses attending the event in the Zocalo.

There was an event planned that day in the Zocalo, though nothing of any national historical significance; a mass Quincenanera of 300 young debutantes, celebrating their “Sweet 15,” as it were. As we enjoyed some more Mexican delights—“sopes y sopa” from a hotel restaurant overlooking the Zocalo (did I mention Bob loves to eat?) we looked down upon the dress rehearsal of these young girls on the stage and listened to the music bouncing off the colonial walls. To top off the day, and to offer my guests another authentic Mexican perspective, we took the metro home. The Mexico City subway line is one of the most dependable things in the city, though it can get sardine crowded at times on certain lines. Since this was my first time heading home from the Centro to my new apartment, I couldn’t guarantee the passenger volume would be baby friendly; however, the cars were only half full and there was no need to go look for a taxi. In fact, Sunshine’s unique beauty got her noticed quite a lot, earning her more smiles during the ride home. (People smiling at this kid would be a theme for the weekend.) That night we were visited by my buddy Will, who stopped by for some wine and a feast of Mexican sushi, filled with (a strangely DF tradition) Philly Cream Cheese. I was happy to have two very good friends, one old and one new, finally meet.

The next day it was up and at ‘em with a long list of other things to do and see. Or so I thought. I was learning that the morning routine we had experienced the day before was the norm: Sunshine waking up at the ass crack of dawn, hanging out for a few hours, then laying down for a midmorning nap before we could effectively get out of the house for the day. So, the Turibus ride I envisioned would not happen. Nor would we get to do more than take a drive around the outskirts of Bosque Chapultepec, the “central park” of the city. Here there are lakes, museums of modern art and the Museum of Anthropology, an amusement park, and Chapultepec Castle. This castle, now the national museum of Mexican history, has served as residence to both presidents and emperors, but mostly as a military academy. It was from the bluffs surrounding the castle that the famed “Los Ninos” wrapped themselves in the Mexican flag and hurled themselves to their deaths as the Americans took the city during the American invasion of Mexico, 1846-1848. As we drove along the iron fence surrounding the park, we saw an exhibit of Nordic photography, “Norway: Powered by Nature” that accompanied the recent visit of the Norwegian Prince and Princess last month. (Ale was a principal organizer of the PR campaign related to their visit!) I’m sorry Bob didn’t get to spend more time enjoying them, as he’s quite a good photographer himself. But, these wouldn’t be the only photos we would not have time for; we’d also have to shelve a tentative trip to an exhibit in the Centro by David La Chapelle, “The Delirium of Reason,” the following day in order to make time for a day trip out of town.

Before getting on the road to San Angel on Saturday, we stopped into Califa for some “tacos al pastor,” by far one of the tastiest types of tacos found only in Mexico City. They unique nature of these tacos is that they are filled with meat shaved from a rotisserie spit, in the same way as the Greek gyro or Turkish kabob. This technique of cooking was brought to Mexico City from Lebanese immigrants. (Carlos Slim, one of the top 3 richest men in the world, is a Lebanese Mexican.) Tacos al Pastor include juicy pork shaved from the spit, parsley, onion and a slice of pineapple, topped with lime juice and salsa. RIDICULOUS is how good they are. Just writing about them now is making my mouth water. Again, Bob and Yoonhee were having a fiesta of the taste buds. Afterwards, we finally made our way to San Angel for our Saturday afternoon. We meandered through the weekly arts and crafts market set up in the two little parks located in that old cobblestoned neighborhood. This neighborhood, like nearby Coyoacan, was originally a suburb far beyond the city center. Now, these quaint neighborhoods are more like a colonial oasis in the midst of the urban jungle. While there, Ale bought a blouse and Bob bought a couple of wall hangings from the locals. We headed back and had to select a restaurant again for dinner—not always an easy task in a city full of great offerings. We settled on Il Postino, a lovely little Italian place with and outdoor café seating on the Cibeles fountain at the Plaza Madrid. There Bob ordered some giant mutton on a bone. The pictures of him digging into this thing will crack you up. (Did I mention Bob is a confirmed eater?)

Our last full day consisted of a trip well outside the city limits to a little village called Tepoztlan, about an hour away. Since Mexico City lies in a basin in the middle of a mountain range, it’s necessary to do some windy mountain driving to get out of the city. Once up there, Bob and Yoonhee were a bit surprised, as I first was, at the beauty of the countryside outside the city. Giant pine trees lined the highway, reminiscent of the outer limits of Yosemite. Tepoztlan is also cradled in a small basin surrounded by a wall of sheer rock face. It is such a nifty and magical place that it was the site of native life as far back as 1,500 BCE. More recent inhabitants, from ca. 1,100 CE, constructed a temple pyramid on the top ledge of one of these nearby craggy mountains. The high perch kept it from being destroyed after Cortez and friends razed the town below to the ground when the inhabitants refused to submit adequately. Taking the hour hike up the mountain side to the pyramid is one of the premier attractions of the town, along with the many shops, restaurants, and local “spiritual” offerings—“want your aura read?” White-robed, beaded hippies can be seen wandering the streets, waiting for a message from the Great Spirit of the Mountain (or some such shit). The small temple park at the top features a glorious view of the surrounding rock formations and the town below. It’s a great place to have a picnic and read a book for the afternoon.

After parking, we visited the grounds of the old convent in town, built in the late 16th Century, then stopped for a coffee and snack, before strolling down the main road toward the pyramid. When they looked up and saw how high and steep the climb was, doubt began to set in. Though this is not excessively physically challenging hike for the healthy, the unfortunate fact was that by the time Sunday had rolled around, Bob had taken on the brunt of the cold virus that had been plaguing Sunshine and Yoonhee days earlier and he was feeling pretty darn lousy. After we got to the foot of the mountain under the trees, we decided the pyramid would have to wait another day. Instead we sat in the shade and ate our packed lunches, chatting and people watching, before heading back into town and back into the big city.

The best meal of all, if I must say, was our dinner that last night: Miguelito’s secret special NJ-Mexican pasta sauce with salad and garlic bread. Unfortunately, Bob was so stuffed-up he couldn’t taste a thing—though this did not prevent him from eating! He was coherent enough to help me organize my music collection onto a back up drive, which was much appreciated by a technical idiot like me. Sunshine didn’t have the easiest time getting to sleep that night and wailed for quite some time. At times during the visit, Little Miss Sunshine behaved more like Little Miss Crankypants, but I think she still enjoyed her tour of Mexico City. I’m sure her having a cold didn’t help. Still, her antics certainly gave Ale and I a wake-up call as to what we need to expect in the coming year. The joys of parenthood await!

The next day we parted, Ale and I for a week in Nicaragua, and Sunshine and her ‘rents back to Philly. Details of Nicaragua to follow…

Miguelito Got Married!!

It all started the previous year when Ale and I spent our first Thanksgiving on the beaches of the Yucatan. (See the previous Yucatan blog for details.) We said to each other, “If we end up getting married, let’s do it here on these gorgeous beaches. (Yes, we were contemplating the possibilities only a few months after meeting!) By spring the following year we had decided that a wedding was, indeed, in order. My thinking was that since I have a week off for Thanksgiving and people in the States have at least a four day weekend, it would work. It would give my NJ friends and family an excuse to come sun themselves in the Caribbean as winter began to take hold of them. Unfortunately, this plan backfired. At the time people were looking to book their flights last summer, gas prices were still spiking and flights were as high as $1,500 a pop, which was quite steep for a four day weekend. People began begging off, saying they would prefer to come at a later time when tickets were cheaper and they had more time to spend with us. Though disappointing, I certainly understood. I was also admittedly worried about everyone coming at once and me being too busy to spend time with them sufficiently. Nonetheless, I also admit I grew tired of having to explain to people, when they learned no one from NJ was coming, that I was not an orphan with no friends from NJ. Happily, my friend Tim and his lovely wife Jennifer stepped up to represent NJ and prove I had a life there. They ended up solving the problem of the unfavorable plane fare to vacation time ratio by extending their stay in Mexico for almost two weeks, creating for themselves a sort of second honeymoon. It was really great having them there. As for the rest of the NJ contingency, let me tell you what a great time you missed…

Having both already spent a ton of dough on previous (practice) weddings, and having recently blown all our savings on our apartment purchase and furniture, our focus this time was keeping it simple and inexpensive. We figured we’d get married on the beach in a barebones ceremony, go to dinner at this high end restaurant down the road, The Mezzanine, then party at their Friday night dance event. We’d simply tell people of our plans and those who wanted to/could join us would do so. Pretty cut and dry. Well, so we thought.

Getting married on the beach proved to be more difficult, and potentially expensive, than we expected. The cabana we were booked referred us to their wedding coordinator who talked about packages including tropical flowers for $500 and a “site fee” of $750. I was shocked that there would be a charge for use of the beach because it is a well known fact that all beaches in Mexico are all legally open to the public. I couldn’t understand why while staying in their hotel it was free for us to read, swim, walk, play Frisbee, sunbath or run naked on the beach, but the minute we stood with some friends on the beach to recite some words and sign some papers it was going to cost us $750. No thanks! We were pleased when the Mezzanine said they would allow us to do it on their beach for free. Unfortunately, trouble began brewing with those folks too. At first, we told them we were expecting 10-12 people. Ale didn’t think her parents were going to make it either, and so we thought it would be just us with a few friends. But, Thanksgiving in Tulum has a very nice ring to it, and many of my friends from work began letting us know they would indeed be joining us for the nuptials. Ale’s family confirmed. Then more of Ale’s friends joined the list late. Two weeks before the wedding we added all the recent confirmations up and discovered the total was pushing 35, including us. When we called the Mezzanine to let them know of the change, they began back peddling fast. They had seemed concerned when our total had crossed 20 weeks earlier and began emphasizing they would have trouble serving us all at once and seating us together. Fifteen days before the wedding, when they heard we had surpassed thirty, they simply let us know that they would not be able to accommodate us and wished us “good luck.” Yikes!

Ale and I were so freaked out at this latest turn of events that we went into denial and didn’t even talk about it for two days. Finally, Ale got into gear and began calling cabanas/restaurants on the Tulum beach strip. After many disappointments we finally found a place that we thought would work: Om. Om is a new cabana/restaurant in Tulum. We saw it being built there last year and knew that it looked pretty cool. We also had visited Club Om in Playa del Carmen and knew it was a well run establishment. All we needed to do was meet with the managers and sort out the details upon our arrival.

We flew into Cancun on Monday morning the week before the scheduled event. I rented a car—and after remembering the $2,500 deductible I had to pay after a rental car accident last Christmas—purchased the full insurance. We collected our friends, Walter, Martha and Vail, who had also arrived that afternoon as well and headed south to paradise. Martha and Vail were treating themselves to an all inclusive resort up the road from us and would be joining us for the wedding. Walter was staying with our main crew on the beach in Tulum and continued on with us to our first stop, the civil registry. Now this was a meeting I entered with great fear and trepidation. The reason was that despite many attempts, Ale and I had been unable to locate my apostilled (internationally certified) birth certificate. Most sites on the internet, including wedding planners in the Mayan Riviera said that this document was a requirement for marriage in Mexico. Ale had spoken with someone in the Tulum office who had assured her that it was not needed in the state of Quintana Roo, where Tulum is located. And even though (at my badgering) she had called and confirmed this 26 times, I was still afraid that we were not going to walk in there and have them say the person on the phone either didn’t say that, or unfortunately had given us the wrong information and of course you need it you idiots didn’t you read all the available information on the internet about getting married in Mexico?? To my utter joy (and Walter’s who was eager to get to the beach) we suffered no such bad news and were out of there with papers in order inside of 15 minutes! All that was needed was our blood tests and physicals, scheduled for the next day.

After checking into our sweet bungalow suite on the beach at La Nueva Vida, we grabbed Tim and Jennifer from cabana Lamar and headed to Om for dinner. After eating a delicious meal, which Tim was particularly satisfied with, Ale and I met with Manuel and Massimo, the managers to iron out the wedding/reception details. They offered to set us up on the beach as we requested, suggested we go with a buffet, including soup, salad, shrimp crevice, steak medallions, lemon chicken, and pasta for our vegetarian friends. They decided to close the restaurant for the evening, and even offered to let us use our IPod in their sound system, which we figured would not only be cheaper but allow us total control over the music. By the end of the evening, all the details were falling quickly into place and we could settle down and enjoy ourselves for our pre-wedding honeymoon. Our first order of business was to catch up with my posse back at the sand covered restaurant/bar at La Zebra, the cabana next to ours where Will, Tina, Jackie, Walter and (eventually) Jim Weathers were staying in an apartment cabana. We had left Walter there hours earlier as he was happily accepting his free welcome Margarita. By the time we arrived to introduce our NJ friends to my DF friends, all my DF pals at La Zebra were thoroughly “happily welcomed” and enjoying themselves immensely. Tina, in particular was in rare and hilarious (intoxicated) form. Not one to be dissuaded from a late night cocktail, we joined the fray, ending sometime later laying on the deck cushions in the ocean breeze under an amazingly clear jungle sky, many of us chatting arm in arm. It was a very pleasant end to the beginning of our wedding week.

Breakfast on the beach, followed by swimming, sunning, reading, chatting, walking, Frisbee, and afternoon cocktails and snacks were the orders of the day throughout the week. Dinners, drinks and after-hour parties at our suite balcony were the orders of the night. It was truly a relaxing and fun week in the paradise that is Tulum. Since I’ve already explained in detail the jungle, ruins and cenotes of the Tulum area in a previous blog, I won’t go into that sort of detail again. Suffice to say that we did many of the same activities again. One activity that we did not do was the “Hidden Worlds” cenote park which is apparently an all day affair that includes jungle canopy zip line tours and all sorts of other cool stuff. I’m glad in a way we didn’t get to it because it leaves me something to do next time we go—(hear that Steve!?). Some new twists included the discovery of a secluded bar at the end of the strip that featured darts, ping-pong and pool tables which we enjoyed twice. Another new experience was an expensive but delicious dinner at Posada Marguerita, where we had stayed, but not eaten at the year before. The food there comes from a set menu with limited choices described in person by the owner at each table. While many of us found this personal attention charming, Jackie, who is a finicky eater was annoyed and didn’t get why she just couldn’t see a menu. We all got a laugh when the Italian owner, not hurting for any business, responded curtly to her demand to select her meal from a menu by saying, “You want to eat here tonight?—YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!” She did, and I imagine she was quite satisfied with her meal as were the rest of us, which was one of essentially four combination choices of fresh homemade pastas and freshly caught seafood. Since the restaurant could not accommodate a table of 10, Tim, Jennifer, Ale and I sat at a table away from the main group, which I thoroughly appreciated, having another chance to enjoy our friends who had traveled so far for our special occasion. Another notable event took place in town at an Argentinean restaurant in town where we congregated in our biggest group (besides the wedding, of course) for a “Thanksgiving” dinner. At this point, Ryan and Lydie, Jimmy Weathers, Tim Marlowe, Ashley, and Will’s visiting friends JT and Allison and had all arrived. I was filled with joy as I sat with my beautiful wife to be and so many good friends, old and new, stuffing myself with grilled Argentinean meat and vegetables AND watching the Eagles destroy the Cardinals. (Unfortunately, this sporting result would not be repeated in the NFC Championship game...) It was one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever!

Days before the wedding we headed back to Cancun airport to pick up Ale’s parents. We brought them each a special gift, a bottle of vodka for him and a bottle of whisky for her. We serendipitously ran into Tim Marlowe when we were there and threw him in our shuttle back to Tulum. While Tim and I talked, Ale’s mom grew concerned about my driving speed and lack of focus on the road. As she commented on this, Ale poked me in the shoulder from the back. “Knock it off!” I told her. When she explained the reason why, I responded that perhaps we should pull over and grab her bottle of whisky out of the back so she could take a shot and relax. When her mom heard the translation of this, she held up her plastic water bottle for me to see and said, “What do you think is in here?!” The sweet old couple had been drinking during the entire plane ride! Her father made a similar comment when we stopped by their bungalow on the beach later that night to check on them. It’s nice here, I told them in my lame Spanish, you can get up and read on the beach tomorrow. “Read?!” he responded indignantly, I’ve read enough over the last 40 years, I just drink now!” Gotta love this guy.

After a week of fun in the sun (the weather was great all week, unlike the year before) the big day arrived. The wedding was to begin at 5:15 on Friday evening so we could stand on the beach with the sun splashing some color in the sky. As luck would have it, this was the only day that was slightly cloudy and as the afternoon wore on it became increasingly cloudy and began to drizzle a little. As we debated whether or not to move the event indoors the decision was taken out of our hands when the judge and the two Mexican witnesses, our friends Sonia and Enrique, were late arriving. Ale had spoken to the judge earlier in the week, confirming the start time of the ceremony. He told us he would be there a half an hour early to go over the details and logistics. When Ale called to find out what the problem was, he defended himself by saying, “You told me the wedding would be at 5:15.” Ale said, “yes, but it’s now 5:30!” Typical Mexican time management. He and Sonia and Enrique were all there minutes later, but by this time darkness had descended and it was obvious the ceremony would take place in the restaurant. Still, we still consider ourselves to have gotten married on the beach as the restaurant was literally 20 yards from the edge of the water and the only thing separating us from the beach was the plastic window they roll down the edge of the deck to keep the ocean wind off the tables.

The ceremony was brief and simple, exactly as we had wanted. A brief reading of the responsibilities, love and respect of man and wife toward each other in the state of marriage, followed by some “I do’s” (or “Si, quieros” which Ale still makes fun of me for slightly mispronouncing) and the signatures and fingerprints of us and the witnesses. As it was all in Spanish, I couldn’t follow most of it very well. But, it didn’t matter much anyway. I was captivated by how absolutely gorgeous Ale looked in her beautiful 30 dollar dress, (she is so proud of herself for finding that steal!)with her hair done up with the extra hair extension added. Even though we had been planning this event for over six months, I was suddenly overcome with love and happiness as I gazed at her in the candle light. Then we sat down at our respective tables for the dinner, which was, honestly, impressively tasty. Afterwards, it was time for a speech or two. I went up and gave a thank you to all, and offered my sentiment that the wedding day was important and special, but what really mattered was the live we would build together. When I got to the part about having children, her father leapt up from his chair and gave a rousing “yeah!” The fact that I said all this in Spanish nearly brought Ale to tears.

Her father wasn’t the only one interjecting with comments and cheers. My good buddy Jim Weathers (aka Tim Walters) was about as fired up as I’ve ever seen him. I actually first noticed his elevated state hours earlier when I stopped in the apartment next door to pick up the flowers our friends Vic and Carolina had picked up for us. When I inquired about his altered state, I was told by those around him that he had purposely decided to get “beered-up.” (I can only guess this is some sort of British expression.) I told him to knock it off as the wedding was several hours away. He clearly didn’t listen to me. As we chatted in the restaurant having cocktails and waiting for the guests, judge and witnesses, Jimmy was already on a roll and raising eyebrows from those already there. “What’s the over-under on how long it takes him to start singing the old Scottish folksong “No Way Never?” I asked Tim and Vic as we eyed him from across the bar. (Usually this never ending round of a song starts very late in the evenings—or early in the mornings.) When he approached me singing this tune less than two minutes later, I knew we were in trouble. As I stood gazing at my beautiful bride a short time later I became momentarily distracted by the rumble of under breathed cursing from behind the table. There was Jim, struggling to balance himself on a chair and record the momentous event on video. Luckily, he managed not to fall. Later, during the meal he shouted out a toast, “Mike, I toast to your stupidity!” What!? People around him asked. “I mean, you’re the best one to make a choice I would regret as I see Ale is not a mistake…” Enough! People told him, you’re just making it worse! I’m still not sure exactly idea what he was trying to say, though I’m certain his intentions were well founded. Perhaps an expression of something he felt about marriage in general. Several people later told us that as he got himself “beered-up” all afternoon he kept saying that weddings made him extremely nervous. Everyone’s reminders that he was not the one getting married and thus needed not relieve any cold feet were offered without effect. He also tried to offer some commentary as I began my speech, but Will quickly interceded in no uncertain terms, “Tim, SHUT UP.” And he got the message long enough for Will and I to make our speeches. Amazingly, he remained on his feet for the remainder of the evening, even managing to dance and hold Sonia’s baby Mila without incident. And despite his extreme state of inebriation, he still managed to maintain enough of his roguish English charm well enough as to have one of Ale’s cute friends express interest. He, on the other hand, was too far gone to notice. He ended his night hours later, back on the deck of our bungalow, falling out of the hammock and then passing out in our wedding bed. He was in rare form, for sure, playing the role of the “drunken uncle at the wedding” to perfection. To thank him, I took my clippers and gave him nice 1x2 inch bald patch on the back of his head. We all got laughs out of that for a couple of weeks.

After I finished my remarks I turned the floor over to Will. I was glad to have him be the one to make the speech. He and I have become quite close over the past year and a half, and after many, many hours hanging out in our apartment, partying out on the town, chillin’ at the beach and elsewhere, he better than anyone had a window into Ale and my relationship. On the other hand, Will and I also enjoy busting each other’s chops, and I was bracing myself for what was sure to be a roasting of me in the midst of his wedding speech. My apprehension only increased the day of the wedding when I saw him in the La Zebra restaurant with JT working on the speech for the better part of the afternoon. He did not disappoint:

Love Lessons I’ve Learned From Mike and Ale

Lesson #1: How do I know she loves me? She shaves my back.

“Bebe, Bebe, it’s me. Are you listening? I need you to listen. This is important. Did the maid throw away my toenails? She did? BEBE, you know I was saving those! They were huge, I could have chewed on those for a week.!” This is and actual phone call from Mike to Ale. I know this because I was sitting in the car next to Mike dry heaving as it was happening. It was shocking. But, most shocking of all was that Ale was actually apologizing. She knew the importance of these toenails and she shared Mike’s loss. This, is love. There is no affection deeper than that of a woman who loves a man who chews on his own toenails. It wouldn’t be proper to discuss all of Mike’s jarring habits at dinner but what is important to note is that Ale puts up with all of them. She even encourages them. She knows that the man she loves is at times…very gross. She knows that he is not ever politically correct. She knows that she will spend the rest of her life avoiding the eye contact of strangers in fancy restaurants. And she knows that this is what also makes him honest and sincere and true to himself. She also knows that these qualities will make him an incredible husband and she knows that she is very lucky.

Lesson #2: She thinks I’m funny, even when no one else is laughing.

If anyone is in doubt of Ale’s love for Mike, all you need to do is watch her when Mike tells a joke. She starts to laugh even before he has finished his first sentence. She glows with pride at his wit even when no one else is sure if what he has just said is even a joke. And she doesn’t just offer a little laugh, but a hearty, throw back your head and roar laugh. Mike, as someone who enjoys the spotlight, be thankful that as of this day you have forever found a willing and captive audience.

Lesson #3: She loves my friends because they love me.

I love Mike. I myself have shaved his back (although I never planned on telling anyone about it). Ale knows that we all love Mike, that we think he IS funny, and that we have all been enchanted by the cult of Mike Hennessy. Our devotion to her husband means that we are all part of this new family being created today. We may all be a little rough around the edges, but don’t doubt for a minute our love for Mike. In return, we know we will always be welcomed into this new Hennessy home. And we should all feel lucky. There are very few places where you will feel as comfortable and as loved.

Lesson #4: She makes me a better person.

Mike and Ale have given me hope. Through them I have seen that maybe there is such a thing as being “soul mates.” There just might be someone out there who makes you a better person simply because you are with them. This is true for Mike and Ale. As individuals they are deep and thoughtful and full of love. But, as a couple these qualities are magnified. They bring out the best in each other, and they also tolerate the less desirable qualities. Chewing on toenails doesn’t really matter when your husband is the funniest man on the planet. I have been lucky enough to watch their relationship grow from the beginning at match.com to the caring and devoted relationship it has become. Thank you both for providing us all with a real life example of what love really is.

Tomorrow at the beach, take a close look. Not at the beauty of Tulum, but at Mike’s back. Examine the attention to detail. Examine how close Ale is willing to go to that southern point where back hair turns into something else entirely. This is the work of someone who loves her partner so deeply that she is willing to put herself at risk. For all of us looking for love, this is what it looks like.

Needless to say, this speech got its fair share of “ha-ha’s” “ews” and “ahhs.” Ale had a hard time translating it to her mother and others later, who couldn’t actually believe he had covered some of the topics he had. Afterwards, Marlowe and some others spoke a few kind words. Ale’s father stood to serenade us a cappella, which was a quite moving experience. Afterwards, we moved to the party portion of the night, with some bouquet tossing and cake cutting interspersed as you can imagine. Jackie had done a fine job of creating the wedding play list and along with Tina, Martha and Vail did kept the dance floor going for almost two hours after the restaurant had originally told us they would stay open. Ryan rapped the entire song, word for work, of “Ice-Ice Baby” while Walter took 87 pictures of a super hot friend of Ale’s who had shown up in some sort of Jazzercise outfit. A pair of unexpected guests generated quite a stir when they stumbled into the bar and proceeded to tell anyone who would listen that they were having an illicit Mexican vacation affair, he being married and the best friend of her father. The next day the manager told us she topped of the night by puking on the floor just after we all left.

The wedding all came to its final conclusion many hours later, with a rump of our crew drinking the wee hours away on our deck in the ocean air, laughing and joking and taking pictures of Ale’s hair extension placed in various places on their bodies, before stumbling off alone or in pairs, leaving us two newlyweds to pass out next to each other (no consummation that evening) and wait for the morning to begin the rest of our lives together.

PS. The next day, Vic and Carolina had breakfast in our hotel’s restaurant. All the other guests were abuzz about the crazy party that had been going on at the beach front suite until 4:30 am. “Yeah, we heard it, did you?” “Yes we did…and THE PROFANITY!!!” I could only laugh knowing that I was surely a prime offender. After two days of gentle recovery on the beach we headed back to the DF to our new life as a happily married couple, ready to begin our work on starting a family. To be contined…

You can also view LOTS of pictures of our really fun and exciting wedding (and some of our wedding week) at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelito2066/sets/72157614928775445/ Use the slideshow feature for best viewing.

Remember, you can't reply to this email, but you can post a comment (please do!) or email me directly at strawdogs66@hotmail.com

Long Time No Blog

Que Tal?? Yes, despite not hearing from me for quite some time, I did manage to get married since my last post. Yup, no last minute jitters, panic attacks, or running for the hills—on her part I mean, thank God—so we wrapped up the civil ceremony on the beach (more or less) as we had planned.

There’s a lot to tell about our awesome week and wedding, but believe it or not I’m still trying to gather and organize photos to post. (You bastards who are holding out on me--send me the proof!) So, while you wait another week or two for that story and pics, let me catch you up on a few highlights over the past six months.

Work—I started the year as the new Social Studies Department Head. Luckily, I have the best department in the school. It is great working with them, especially with helping a new teacher in the department. Also, the second time through my Western Civ curriculum has been even more fun than last year. This year’s crop of sophomores is super nice, cooperative and eager to learn. I’m also teaching a new elective course—Genocide—during the spring semester. The students and I are very excited about it and I fear the early positive response will mean more students than I can handle next year. The construction on the high school additions and renovations continues, but the suffering is more bearable as we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The high school classrooms are completed, if with a few remaining kinks. It may be two years later than first projected—but the definitive end IS coming.

Travel—I spent a couple of weeks in Oaxaca in August doing more Spanish studies and checking out things there. It was a great time. I actually started a more detailed blog of those experiences but never finished it once I got into the grind of the day to day with work. I met some great people, took more Salsa lessons, did a weekend hike through the mountains, and enjoyed the many events connected to the annual Guelaguetza indigenous festival going on while I was there. It was truly a great two weeks. Perhaps, I’ll finish that story and send it on later. The first trip of the semester was a weekender to the old colonial town of Taxco with Ale, Marlowe and Will. This was at its core a wedding ring shopping trip, since Taxco is a renowned silver mining town and outlet. We ended up with two beautiful rings (plus quite a bit of other silver stuff for Ale—how did that happen!?) and had a lot of fun eating and drinking the weekend away. One memorable moment came during a detour we took on the way home to a “zoofari” when Will almost had his head bitten off by a white Siberian tiger who took Will’s leaning out of the car window twenty feet from the large carnivorous beast as an invitation to lunch. The other significant trip we took—other than getting married in Tulum—was a four day weekend to Morelia for a our second annual visit to the International Film Festival there. We met friends Tina and Jackie there for a smorgasbord of movies from around the globe. I think we saw over 20 movies in four days—quite a feat, even for movie buffs like us. Being short on cash after buying/furnishing the apartment and having the wedding meant low key Christmas vacation, which we spent at my friend Steve’s hacienda in nearby Tepoztlan. I watched the property and his three awesome dogs (two Rottweilers and a German Shepherd) while he was away and took some more Spanish classes for part of the week. Ale joined me off an on while I was there, the last time for Steve’s New Year’s Eve party. His place is amazing. It is mostly the brainchild of his wife Sally, a talented architect who has been working on creating this special place, bit by bit, over the past fifteen years. It is located in the countryside outside of Tepotzlan, surrounded by these rocky mountains through which I would walk the dogs each morning. Super relaxing. A more recent trip took us to Malinalco, another cute little colonial town built on a pre-Columbian site nestled in similarly craggy mountains. We found a hotel with a pool on a hill overlooking the main square for 350 pesos a night. Friends Tim, Corbin, Ryan and Lydie joined us for part of the time. We enjoyed several great meals, especially the town’s specialty, fresh trout, as well as a nice hike up to an Aztec temple on the top of one of the mountains. I sat up there, and later by the pool, reading an interesting book about Maliche, the woman so maligned for helping Cortez conquer the Aztecs. Friends and family continue to threaten to visit us, but no one has confirmed anything definite. So, I’m about to start putting together some Spring Break plans.

Housing—Last June, we decided to buy this apartment in the southern part of Colonia Hipodroma Condesa on the Escondon border. Not the best location in La Condesa, which is one of the nicer-hipper colonias, but all in all it is a very nice apartment and came at a very good price. The journey through Mexican financial bureaucracy was a true test of our patience. Several times we were given conflicting information about requirements, deadlines and outcomes. We were told at several junctions the deal was not going to go through at all and consequently began looking to rent again. This sort of customer service is more the norm than the exception in Mexico, as many of you who have lived here know, but it’s a little more stressful when the stakes include a 120K dollar apartment and where you are going to live. We had to move downstairs to the “cave” apartment underneath our previously awesome place for a couple of months, but are now finally located in our new digs as of November. We are in the process of filling it with furniture and making a few structural changes (building this little closet has managed to become quite a challenge), but it should be ready to showcase it in a month or so. (Hopefully we’ll be filling it with a baby soon!)

Mexico City—Still crazy, exciting, smoggy, crowded and interesting. I’m learning a new area of the city surrounding my new apartment. Very happy to have found a new sports betting bar nearby where I could go and watch every NFL game on at once on Sundays. I also located a cool looking billiards place a few blocks away that I want to check out. Oh, and the prostitutes lining the streets around the corner of my new pad. (Won’t be checking that out anytime soon, especially since most have very large Adam’s apple’s.) I’m still playing Ultimate Frisbee and playing with an ad-hock acoustic band. Still getting out of town for long weekends to discover the endless supply of neat little Mexican colonial towns. Spanish classes conflicted with the book club meetings last semester, but it looks like that conflict has been resolved and I’ll be able to get back to doing some more of that. And yes, you may have heard that the drug war continues, with over 5,000 murdered nationally for the year—over 700 alone this past November. Luckily, 90% of the killings are between the police/soldiers and drug traffickers as they respond to the ongoing crackdown on narco-trafficking. Every day there are stories in the paper about shootouts, kidnappings, bombings, beheadings, etc. Pretty gruesome stuff for sure; but because so little of the violence actually takes place in DF, it’s comparable to you reading about the daily violence and mayhem in Iraq. It’s somewhat connected to you, but has no real impact on your day to day life.

Anyhow, that’s Miguelito in Mexico in a nutshell (I’d say taco shell, but a hard taco shell doesn’t exist here). The wedding blog is basically written and ready to send. I just want to get the pics together for you before I send it.

Peace and Love,

Miguelito

Photo: The adorable zocolo in Malinalco.

Remember, you can always read this blog and previous blogs in a nifty format, along with additional info and links to photos at: www.miguelitoinmexico.blogspot.com

Last Call~!!!

I realize that most of you have made your decision some time ago, but Ale and a friend made up this formal invite with updated information, so I'm passing it on. (Click to enlarge) We have already welcomed a few late additions to the festivities, so don't hesitate to join us if your schedule and budget allow.

Guess who is getting married!

That’s right. Miguelito and his Mexican flower, Alejandra, after a year of bliss, living in sin, are going to tie the matrimonial knot. This will take place on November 28th 2008, on the beautiful Caribbean beaches of Tulum Mexico. (See my “Thanksgiving in the Yucatan” blog for details on this vacation spot.) Consider yourself both informed and invited.

Anyone who knows Miguelito knows how much I love Ale and how happy I am sharing my life with her. And anyone who knows Ale knows what a smart, funny and interesting person she is. Recently a friend told me he was thinking of dumping his girlfriend because he knew something was wrong when he realized he could speak all night without effort to my girlfriend, but had to struggle to maintain a decent conversation with his own. Ale has a bright and bubbly personality that is naturally attractive to people. And I certainly cannot resist the fact that she finds most of my irreverent humor, silly antics and odd ways humorous (or at least tolerable). I am lucky to have found her.

Since both of us are veterans of relatively expensive weddings, and have recently spent every dime we have in our savings on our new apartment, we are opting for a very, very simple wedding ceremony and dinner in which we are paying only for ourselves. We are going to stand with a judge on the beach at the Nueva Vida cabana hotel (or in their restaurant, if it is raining) and say our “forever-mores" (well, at least our “until-deaths,” eternity seems a little extreme). Afterwards, we are heading to The Mezzanine, a fine dining establishment a mile down the beach for dinner. After dinner, we’ll have some drinks and dance at their Friday night dance party. That is our plan. It is simple and true. Anyone who would like to be there is welcome to join us.

Of course, we are not just flying out there to stand on the beach for one day. On the days before and after the wedding ceremony, we’ll do some fun things like lie on the beach and swim in the crystal clear waters, visit the nearby Mayan Ruins, swim in the underground cenotes, explore the nearby nature reserve, or head up the coast an hour to Playa del Carmen and/or Cozumel for shopping or scuba. So, even if you think attending a wedding in Mexico at which you’ll have to pay your own way for dinner is a bit expensive, you could also think of it as an excuse to take a Caribbean vacation for yourselves during Thanksgiving as well. And if you cannot get away that weekend to Tulum, that is fine with us too. We’ll accept your well wishes and hope to see you some other time in Mexico City.

For anyone who is considering the journey, I should alert you that Tulum is a very nice and popular beach spot that is likely to have the good and reasonable cabanas booked early for Thanksgiving weekend. We were lucky to get ours for the week, Monday-Sunday, and we took care of it in July. It was the last available beach front cabana at this hotel in our price range. I’m including below a variety of links for anyone who wants to explore their options. Feel free to ask me any questions you have. (I have spent hours conducting research and have also visited this place.) Please let us know asap if you are thinking/planning on joining us. We want to get the restaurant approximate reservation numbers and also try to plan out our week based on who is going to be there.

Alright, well...this is going to be sweet!

PS.--I've recently added some new features to my actual blog site that you may want to check out: www.miguelitoinmexico@blogspot.com

Cabana/Hotel Information for Tulum Mexico

We are staying at the hotel La Nueva Vida de Ramiro. It is one of the highest rated places on the strip. We reserved a junior suite on the beach for $157 a night. They have several more bungalows and suites too. Prices from $80-150. You can see pictures on the web. I’ll attach a list of descriptions of each as well.

http://www.tulumnv.com/ Nueva Vida website, lots of photos.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g150813-d1013669-La_Nueva_Vida_de_Ramiro-Tulum_Yucatan_Peninsula.html Tons of photos from travelers at NV on tripadvisor.com

http://www.tulumnv.com/locationmap.html Aerial photo of NV with cabana identification. We are in cabana #1, "Horizonte Perdido"

Place where we plan to have the wedding dinner, really nice with good Thai food!
http://www.mezzanine.com.mx/

It would be cool if we could stay in the same place, but if it’s full (the good ones like this are booked up well in advance) or you want other options, here’s some help:

Map of the cabana strip with cabanas identified (some are new and not on here)
http://www.sac-be.com/maps_travel.shtml (click on “Tulum” next to the map). This will help you see how far or near you are to us at Nueva Vida.

Trip Advisor site for reviews of cabanas, also can see pictures travelers took—this site is invaluable! Just search the name of the beach hotel you want.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g150813-Tulum_Yucatan_Peninsula-Hotels.html

Good site for descriptions and info of many Tulum beach cabanas and Tulum in general:
http://www.tulumnv.com/locationmap.html

Other cabana places in the same price range: $80-150 (We seriously considered these.)
http://www.tulum-playa.com/
http://www.posadalamar.com/
http://www.titatulum.com/

Other very nice places, a step up in price: $150-225
http://www.ochotulum.com/rooms/partial-ocean-view.html
http://www.tierrasdelsol.com/cabanasx.html
http://www.loslirioshotel.com/
http://www.lazebratulum.com/home.html
http://www.locogringo.com/tulum/hemingway.html?name=Hemingway%20Cabanas
http://www.posadamargherita.com/index.php?lang=en


Off the charts in luxury and price, but worth a peek just for fun:
http://www.casamagnatulum.com/
http://www.anayjose.com/

Cheaper (but very nice) hotels, not on the Beach strip but in the nearby (5-10 minutes) town of Tulum: $50-85 (You could get a 50 dollar cabana on the beach, but it will basically be camping.)
http://posadalunadelsur.googlepages.com/
http://www.teetotumhotel.com/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150813-d578621-Reviews-Don_Diego_de_la_Selva-Tulum_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

New Year's in Acapulco

Ale and I spent Christmas ‘07 in New Jersey, Philly and Maryland. Though it was nice to see people and introduce her to some extended family, I must admit that I did not enjoy being there during this gray, cold season. You like winter? Fine, you keep it. As soon as we returned home to Mexico City, I put on my shorts and walked around outside just because I could. Then, I began preparing for Phase II of our vacation: New Year’s Eve in Acapulco!

Acapulco is one of the most famous and popular Mexican resorts, along with Puerta Vallarta, and Cancun. It is also one of the oldest, beginning its development in the 1930’s and growing ever since. Plainly put, Acapulco is as far from the pure, deserted beaches of Tulum as you can get. If Tulum is Island Beach State Park in New Jersey, Acapulco is Ocean City Maryland. The city is built around a shallow bay that begins with an opening through a small straight and then continues around until it almost forms a complete circle. Apart from this circular shape, much of the surrounding land rises quickly from the beaches into mountainous hills that look down on the bay. (This explains the famous cliff diving competitions here I used to see on ABC's Wild World of Sports.) Geographically speaking, it is an amazing natural location. It’s also a cool place to view at night from the surrounding hills, which are illuminated by the lights of the city. Unfortunately, it is the surrounding city that makes Acapulco's beaches unattractive. The entire stretch of beach around the main bay has been totally and completely developed. Besides being extremely crowded, the city and hotels have been dumping raw sewage into this bay for years, at the rate of something like eight hundred gallons PER SECOND. This may sound hard to believe, but I know this because I read an article in the paper saying the president of Mexico was taking a personal interest in seeing through the construction of several waste filtration plants that would address the immense sewage problems. The presence of so many people also causes the beaches to be quite littered with garbage. I remember as a kid in Ocean City when the giant sand cleaning machines would interrupt our beach play when they came by to clean the garbage off the beach at the end of each day. That’s what you call a smart use of tax revenues to help keep the tourists coming back. Yeah…they don’t have that here in Mexico. It’s one of those things that would make too much sense.

Consequently, less developed areas north and south of the Acapulco proper have become popular with vacationers, especially those from Mexico City which is only a few hours away. Luckily for me, Ale’s friend Sonia married a this guy Enrique who owns a nice condo in Punta Diamante, one of these newer beach towns about fifteen minutes south of Acapulco City. Ale and I visited it with friends from ASF not long after we met. The condo is located in a gated community; it is small and simple, but very nice, with a pool right off the back door. From the condo, a three minute car ride or ten minute walk through a hotel golf course will get you onto the beach, which is considerably less crowded and cleaner than those in down town Acapulco. Upon arriving, you are immediately assaulted by those working the various cabana areas on the beach competing for your business, where you can get a shaded area with chairs and a small table, and service for food and drink. After settling into your chosen spot, you can relax and enjoy the surf and sand. Granted, while there you will be asked to buy every kind of trinket imaginable by vendors traversing the beach, but a brief head shake will send them on their way. While trinkets are of little interest to me, during my first visit there I did take up the offer for a half an hour massage for less than ten dollars.

For our New Year’s trip, Ale and I arrived at three in the morning on the night bus. It is possible to drive to Acapulco in four hours or so, but if there is traffic in or out of the city, it can take 5-8 hours. The first time we went, I drove, and it took us and extra two hours just to get to the city limits and onto the highway. So this time, we opted for a relaxing ride on the bus. (It was on this bus ride that I began my first blog about our trip to the Yucatan.) The house is only a few blocks from the house, so Ale suggested we walk. So, walk we did, suitcases in tow, down the side of the highway in the middle of the night. About half way there, I began to feel a little like an easy target for potential bad actors, but we managed to survive. The next day we enjoyed the sun by the pool. As we were heading inside for dinner we struck up a conversation with a guy in the condo next door, an American who had married a smokin’ Mexican chick and was spending the vacation with her family. Later that night we met them at the “B Bar” right outside the condo complex, and proceeded to get well lit up. The next day, New Year’s Eve, Ale and I hit the beach, where met up with friends my ASF friend Matt and his Mexican boyfriend Fernando. We chilled out under the little thatched huts while we made New Year’s eve dinner plans via cell phone with Sonia and Enrique who were en route to meet us. Waiting to make reservations until the last minute left us with few options, especially since we were hoping for a classy restaurant on the mountain tops overlooking the Acapulco Bay. Luckily, a cancelation came through and we were able to snag a table at a really sweet place. It was a set menu with unlimited drinks for 200 bucks a person (or thereabouts), but we decided to go for it since it was a special night. Also I was assured the fireworks from this vantage point were not to be missed. I was not disappointed.

Did I say, “unlimited drinks?” Well, other than Sonia who was pregnant, the rest of us hit the bar running and ran all night, determined to get our money’s worth. We started with cocktails and beers before and during meal, which was a multi-coursed delight that lasted about an hour. About the time the meal ended, it was time for the declarations of “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!” and the fireworks that immediately followed. We began viewing them through the glass wall in the restaurant and then moved to the deck outside. I cannot emphasize enough how impressive they were. We were looking down from mountains on the south side, watching fireworks from what must have been fifteen or more full blown launch sites from around the bay. Any one of these, individually, would have been an impressive Fourth of July display. The entire sky over the city was bursting with colors in every direction. And it must have lasted fifteen minutes straight. It was truly worth the price of the admission and something I think everyone should see at least once. When the pyrotechnics ended, we headed back inside to boogie the night away. There was no dance floor per se, but we had a blast dancing in a variety of couple-combinations. It was at this point that we moved from lighter drinks to many shots of various flavors. At one point, Enrique and I got into a one-upsmanship battle with shots of Jack, which of course I won. I think he finally begged off at round five. (I knew my Jack drinking skills would come in handy one day!) Afterwards, Sonia, Enrique, Ale and I headed back to the condo where we found the neighbors from the night before still up and at it. So we joined them for some more partying and hit the sack just as the sun was coming up.

The next day we were blown out, as you can imagine, so we spent most of the day watching the first season of The Sopranos. (I had bought all six seasons on the street near my house for 500 pesos, or less than fifty dollars.) After recovering all day we had one more night out left in us. We up with Matt and Fernando again, as well as another friend Shawna from ASF and a friend of hers visiting from Canada. We met at Senor Frog’s, a Joe's Crab Shack type fun-and-food chain popular in Mexico. Shawna had laid relatively low since arriving in Acapulco and was hell bent for wildness. She got us all going by ordering four or five rounds of shots before she began dancing with the waiters and up on her chair. Afterwards, Enrique and Sonia went home early while the rest of us headed to a gay bar for some dancing. As is often the case with gay bars, it was a on the dark and seedy side. So dark in fact, that I did not initially notice when a naked man “dancing” on the bar, sporting only cowboy boots, a cock ring and giant boner, bent down to put his junk in my face and ask me if I wanted to touch it. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not afraid of the penis. Trust me. I’ve got one myself and I’m very found of touching it. But, no, I was not interested in touching the swollen dick of this stranger while I enjoyed my beverage. Still, Ale and I got a kick out of the novelty of this “dancing” on the bar before heading out to the dance floor. As usual, the music and energy of the gay club delivered, and we danced ourselves into a healthy sweat over the next hour or so. Shawna was interested in a bar with more “available” men, so she spilt early. Her friend, also gay, stuck around and was last seen in the corner of the bar, kissing the mustached motorcycle man from the Village People.

We chilled out on the partying for the rest of the week; eating, watching the Sopranos and hitting both the beach and pool again before heading home to the real world a couple of days later. Once again, it was another unforgettable vacation in Mexico!

Photo Note: Enrique (right) and Fernando busting some old school moves on New Year’s Eve.

Related photos of this blog can be viewed at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelito2066/sets/

Spring Break in Puerto Escondido

Spring break was fast approaching. Where would we go? After all, we had almost two weeks off at ASF and we live in Mexico, the land of gringo vacations. We had taken that awesome trip to the Yucatan over Thanksgiving. And there was that crazy New Year's Eve in Acapulco. There had to be some cool trip to take for this upcoming vacation. But what? I had kicked some ideas around with Ale and Will, but nothing definitive had come together. Tick, tick, tick…

With about two weeks to go, Will and I sat on the couch discussing the situation. Someplace new (to us), someplace mellow, someplace warm, someplace ocean side, these were the requirements. Finally, we settled on the idea of Puerto Escondido, a little surf town on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico, in the state of Oaxaca. Ale had been there once before and confirmed that it was worth a visit. So we hopped on the computer and started searching Vacation Rentals By Owner Dot Com (vrbo.com). The first house that came up on our search was awesome: pool, three levels, barbecue, hammocks, rooftop patio, sleeps fourteen. Jeez, it was nice but we didn’t need anything that size or expense. So we moved on. Unfortunately, everything else we were looking at was already booked for Easter Week. As we went through the (un)availability of each rental in succession, our hearts were quickly dropping. Finally, there was only one rental left to check, the giant place we had looked at first. It was available, and after further investigation, would cost only $2000 for 10 days. Since there was going to be a group of us this worked out to be a fraction of the cost per person of a hotel room most anywhere, and certainly much less than renting a beach house of similar proportions at the Jersey Shore. Sweet!

Puerto Escondido was first known to outsiders for having a long stretch of beach, Playa Zicatella in which large waves break perfectly much of the time. The waves there break in huge empty circles, causing a tunnel or pipe-like effect in which surfers can literally surf through. Because of this it is called, “the Mexican Pipeline,” after the world famous “Pipeline” beach in Hawaii. Consequently, Playa Zicatella has become increasingly developed and the strip parallel to the beach resembles a boardwalk, replete with shops, restuarants, young people and crowded beaches. The main part of town surrounds the principal cove, or “Playa Principal.” It is cobblestoned, with a pedestrian only area, and is also full of shops, restaurants and bars. The bay is dotted with a variety of types of sailboats. Up the coast a bit, is a small, gorgeous, secluded cove, “Playa Carrizalilla,” surrounded on three sides by steep, rocky cliffs. In order to enjoy this natural spectacle, you need to walk down hundreds (thousands?) of steps. It’s a bit of work (especially going back up) but well worth it. Another primary beach is a stretch north of the town, Playa Bocacho, which is long, natural and practically deserted. It reminded me of Long Island State Park in New Jersey, consisting simply of surf, sand and dunes. One good thing about all of the beaches is that you can order food and drink from the little stands nearby. Many of our days were filled with ice cold beers and sautéed octopus, served right on the beach. (Ah, the life!) Overall, Puerto Escondido generally remains a sleepy Mexican jewel. However, there are signs everywhere that the increasing development will soon change the essence of Puerto Escondido forever. As Don Henley sings in the Last Reprise, “Call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.” I advise you to get there before it becomes another Acapulco.

After we contacted the owners from VRBO, we shared the information about our Puerto house with our friends at work. Most folks more on the ball than us had already made their plans. Still, we ended up with a core crew of quality people: Walter, Tania, Tim, Sandy, Will, Ale and me. We got off to a rough start when there were some issues wiring the money to the owners in Puerto Escondido. Luckily, my buddy Nik was already there, after having visited me for a week in the DF, and he assisted with getting the house secured. After that was all straightened out, we had more unexpected trouble. Sandy had the misfortune of attempting to exit a bus while it was being robbed, resulting in her being sprawled out on the concrete with a broken arm. To her dismay and ours, she would not be able to make the trip. Still, we decided to carry on with the vacation in her name. Someone had to...

Will, Ale and I flew down together. Nothing beats the feeling of getting off of a plane and getting smacked in the face a wave of tropical sun and breeze. Even though the weather in Mexico City is a delight, it’s a 75 degree delight. Now it was time for some serious tropical heat. We rented a car and drove a few hours north up the scenic coast from Huatulco. The house was just as advertised: huge and colorful, with a pool and all the amenities, including boogie boards, snorkel gear and bicycles. It was located just blocks from the ocean in a suburban neighborhood north of Puerto Escondido proper. Many of the houses were fantastic retirement/vacation homes built by gringos. Each of these houses had its own original style and personality. Even thought the neighborhood is said to be 20 years old, there are still many vacant lots among the beautiful houses there. (For anyone looking to invest here, the time to buy is NOW!) After Tim, Walter and Tania joined us the next day, the first order of business was going shopping and filling the fridge and cabinets with food and drink. After that, well honestly, we didn’t do a whole lot of anything significant.

For the next ten days we had a totally awesome time. It was not the whirlwind of activity of our Thanksgiving vacation in the Yucatan. Mostly, we swam in the pool, played cards, hit the beaches, laid in the hammocks, read, ate, drank, and walked around the sleepy little town. In the pool, we played some Marco Polo type game Will taught us, conducted handstand-walking contests and chilled on the raft. Mike jogged in the mornings and Walter biked in the evenings. Tim took everyone’s money in Texas hold ‘em. Ale worked on her tan. Tania cooked some fantastic meals. At the local bars/discos, Will made out with questionable looking girls and Walter tried to dance with lesbians. (He almost got his assed kicked!) Mike turned 42 whether he liked it or not. Everyone read books and watched two full seasons of Arrested Development. (A must see series if you haven’t seen it.) It was a lazy, sunny, refreshing respite from the hustle and bustle of Mexico City.

One thing I kept thinking while I was there was, “I wish some of my family and friends back home could have been here too.” I’m sure everyone in the house was thinking the same thing. Hopefully, next time, we can make that happen.

Photo note: Will chillin' in the hammock on the roof of our Puerto Pad.

Reminder: You can read this amazing blog, as well as past blogs, in a snazzier format, and post and read comments at: miguelitoinmexico.blogspot.com. You can also view related pictures of this blog at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelito2066/show/