Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Third wheel by the sea
My four-day weekend is drawing to a close, and it’s cloudy and chilly here in Arandas. It seems many times I begin to wash my clothes up on the roof, it’s sunny, but as soon as I start hanging up the clothes, it becomes cloudy and windy.
I still haven’t done my planning for the week, which is normal for me by the evening. I have just finished watching my telenovela (soap opera), “La fea más bella,” and I think I have recruited another viewer in Julia, because she finally saw it today, and we were texting each other on our cell phones about it. It was an especially exciting episode for her to be initiated with, because Don Fernando, the dashing boss of Lety la fea (the ugly girl), had to fulfill his end of a bargain he had made with the gay art director of their company, to dress up as la reina de la noche (queen of the night) in a drag contest. Unfortunately, we missed the drag contest, which was probably on yesterday while we were driving back from the beach, but we did see the silly slapstick stuff of Don Fernando getting help from Lety out of his costume and makeup. It’s pretty silly, but I am still SO addicted to the show.
I suppose I am writing about my sitcom/soap because I didn’t have an especially exciting weekend at the beach, so I don’t have a lot to report, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t very nice. I had a rather tranquil trip, in fact.
Julia and her boyfriend Patrick, who was visiting for a week or so, arrived in Arandas Thursday night, in their rental car. Friday at school was the celebration of the spring equinox and the 200th birthday of Benito Juarez (the benefactor of the four-day weekend), so there was a show, I didn’t have to teach much, and the kids got out early. We did, however, have one of those never-ending meetings afterwards. Fortunately, the principal knew I had to leave for the beach with my friends, so she let me get out a little bit earlier. It wasn’t as early as she had promised me the day before, however; nor was it early enough to avoid night driving. The trip to Puerto Vallarta took a whopping eight and a half hours. (Many thanks to Patrick for driving all weekend!)
We stayed at Mika and Claire’s house in the older part of Puerto Vallarta. They had gone to a beach further south for the four-day weekend but had most generously let us use their place. This helped a great deal, because we didn’t have to spend money on lodging. Julia did her interview on Saturday afternoon, and we went to the beach afterwards. There were tons of people because it’s high season for tourists, and it’s spring break for many young Americans. The clubs, bars, and restaurants Saturday night were packed. We ate at a very fancy place that was clearly one of the places to be in Puerto Vallarta and then tried to go salsa dancing at the club called La Bodeguita. By now, Julia and I are used to not actually dancing much at these salsa places in Mexico. We talked to people and had beers. Everywhere we went was crowded so we just headed home.
Sunday morning we had a lovely breakfast at the pancake house near Mika and Claire’s. Then we drove up the coast to a smaller beach, because the ones in P.V. are crowded and full of parasails and jetskis and tourists. We drove to Punta de Mita, which was cute, but we wanted something a little more remote. We ended up on a nearby dirt road behind private beachfront condos, parked, and walked down to a very nice beach. I think it was called Punta Negra. There weren’t many people. The waves, however, were very scary for me. It was shallow but the waves were quite big, and I got tired of having to dive into the larger waves, so mainly I read on the sand and burned a little.
Monday we walked around town, because I had to get to my bank, which happened to be the furthest from where we were staying, but on the way back it was a nice walk along the beach and the malecón (kind of like a boardwalk but not a boardwalk). We watched pelicans diving. Then we drove out, and it only took us about five hours to reach Guadalajara. Once in town I got on a bus to the central bus station so I could get back to Arandas.
No drama, no fights, no being denied entry into popular night clubs, no cowboys trying to pick me up on their horses, no birthday carousing and drunkenness—only sea, salt, sand, seafood, and now I cannot think of any other things that alliterate.
Now I have to get back to work and get my apartment in order, because my friend Lea arrives in Guadalajara Friday for her spring break visit. We will probably go to the beach again, but perhaps to a smaller one further to the south. It won’t be quite as relaxing because I won’t have four days off to do it, but it’s the beach all the same, and I am not in danger of getting bored of the beach anytime soon.
I still haven’t done my planning for the week, which is normal for me by the evening. I have just finished watching my telenovela (soap opera), “La fea más bella,” and I think I have recruited another viewer in Julia, because she finally saw it today, and we were texting each other on our cell phones about it. It was an especially exciting episode for her to be initiated with, because Don Fernando, the dashing boss of Lety la fea (the ugly girl), had to fulfill his end of a bargain he had made with the gay art director of their company, to dress up as la reina de la noche (queen of the night) in a drag contest. Unfortunately, we missed the drag contest, which was probably on yesterday while we were driving back from the beach, but we did see the silly slapstick stuff of Don Fernando getting help from Lety out of his costume and makeup. It’s pretty silly, but I am still SO addicted to the show.
I suppose I am writing about my sitcom/soap because I didn’t have an especially exciting weekend at the beach, so I don’t have a lot to report, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t very nice. I had a rather tranquil trip, in fact.
Julia and her boyfriend Patrick, who was visiting for a week or so, arrived in Arandas Thursday night, in their rental car. Friday at school was the celebration of the spring equinox and the 200th birthday of Benito Juarez (the benefactor of the four-day weekend), so there was a show, I didn’t have to teach much, and the kids got out early. We did, however, have one of those never-ending meetings afterwards. Fortunately, the principal knew I had to leave for the beach with my friends, so she let me get out a little bit earlier. It wasn’t as early as she had promised me the day before, however; nor was it early enough to avoid night driving. The trip to Puerto Vallarta took a whopping eight and a half hours. (Many thanks to Patrick for driving all weekend!)
We stayed at Mika and Claire’s house in the older part of Puerto Vallarta. They had gone to a beach further south for the four-day weekend but had most generously let us use their place. This helped a great deal, because we didn’t have to spend money on lodging. Julia did her interview on Saturday afternoon, and we went to the beach afterwards. There were tons of people because it’s high season for tourists, and it’s spring break for many young Americans. The clubs, bars, and restaurants Saturday night were packed. We ate at a very fancy place that was clearly one of the places to be in Puerto Vallarta and then tried to go salsa dancing at the club called La Bodeguita. By now, Julia and I are used to not actually dancing much at these salsa places in Mexico. We talked to people and had beers. Everywhere we went was crowded so we just headed home.
Sunday morning we had a lovely breakfast at the pancake house near Mika and Claire’s. Then we drove up the coast to a smaller beach, because the ones in P.V. are crowded and full of parasails and jetskis and tourists. We drove to Punta de Mita, which was cute, but we wanted something a little more remote. We ended up on a nearby dirt road behind private beachfront condos, parked, and walked down to a very nice beach. I think it was called Punta Negra. There weren’t many people. The waves, however, were very scary for me. It was shallow but the waves were quite big, and I got tired of having to dive into the larger waves, so mainly I read on the sand and burned a little.
Monday we walked around town, because I had to get to my bank, which happened to be the furthest from where we were staying, but on the way back it was a nice walk along the beach and the malecón (kind of like a boardwalk but not a boardwalk). We watched pelicans diving. Then we drove out, and it only took us about five hours to reach Guadalajara. Once in town I got on a bus to the central bus station so I could get back to Arandas.
No drama, no fights, no being denied entry into popular night clubs, no cowboys trying to pick me up on their horses, no birthday carousing and drunkenness—only sea, salt, sand, seafood, and now I cannot think of any other things that alliterate.
Now I have to get back to work and get my apartment in order, because my friend Lea arrives in Guadalajara Friday for her spring break visit. We will probably go to the beach again, but perhaps to a smaller one further to the south. It won’t be quite as relaxing because I won’t have four days off to do it, but it’s the beach all the same, and I am not in danger of getting bored of the beach anytime soon.
