Back to Loreto

We had three wonderful weeks in San Diego. We flew back to Loreto, put Allison back in school only to see it let out for two weeks more due to the Swine Flu scare. However, there is no swine flu anywhere in these parts. I think the whole affair is overblown and will fade away like the West Nile Flu and other "potential pandemics." Meanwhile the Mexico economy suffers and good people are without work.

I'm so happy to be back in Loreto Bay where the pace is slow. I love San Diego. We could live there. It's biggest drawback to me is the humanity. There, if you have an idea to do something, you can count on waiting behind twenty other people having the same idea at the same time. Here I'm accustomed to having full run of the show. No lines, no real traffic. BUT, no amenities. It is quite the trade-off. However, I do like the privilege of living in both worlds.

Rather than Allison miss any more school we're having Natalia over every day for "homeschool." The Ford children are joining us too. We are working out the details for forming our own school here in Loreto Bay. It is something I have been working towards since day one. Now that Allison's Spanish is improved I think the time is right to move back to a more progressive curriculum. The beauty of it all is that we have Natalia, who only speaks Spanish. She will teach them for three hours in the a.m. totally in Spanish and then we parents will take over for the afternoon with our own specialities.

I am singularly focused on this project at the moment. I am no teacher, but I know where to find resources. I believe we will create a wonderful environment for these kids and that this will be the seed for other families with school-age children. I am very excited about this. We have a lot of planning ahead. More on that later.

Months ago we talked with the kids about building a fort. They must have gotten tired of the talk and built the thing themselves--or rather assembled it. The last few days they have disappeared around the corner from the Fords' house to a spot beside a home under construction. There they gathered scraps and fashioned a little deck/clubhouse. Form this photo it may look like nothing, but we thought it was pretty cute.


Other news: The Puerto Escondido Yacht Club held its annual Loreto Fest this weekend. Allie and I took a look (Robert is still home in the States.) I thought they put out a lot of effort to make it as entertaining as possible. If nothing else, they had the most beautiful setting as a back-drop. Our dear friend, and neighbor, Cathy, gave a nice vocal performance. Most people there were the crusty sailor types. Arr arr arrgh, a sailor's life for me. I wish I could, but I just can't see myself living on a boat. Now an Airstream trailer--that's different!

Birch Aquarium

You find fish on a smaller scale at the Birch Aquarium. We've been to plenty of aquariums throughout the U.S. and the Birch was memorable for sure. We enjoyed meandering through the Hall of Fishes, an exhibit of Pacific marine life from over 60 habitats. We enjoyed the tanks with the Baja California fish, like Dorado and Yellowtail, most of which we recognized from our scuba dives and from the catches Robert brings home.

The coral exhibits are especially interesting when you think that something that looks so plant like--leafy and flowering--is actually an animal. A trip to an aquarium reminds you how life here is unbelievably genius.

My mother and her dear friend, Gary, joined us in San Diego for a few days of sight-seeing. Here's a photo of my mother, Allie and me outside the aquarium.

Sea World

We visited Sea World where Robert caught this shot of Allie and I "kissing" the Orca as it swam past us in the tank.

I tried to get the same shot of him doing the same, but could never get the timing right.

Allison leaps of a cliff

We spent the first few days in San Diego getting our Airstream set up and then driving around the area sight-seeing. Robert happened across this site on a bluff where hang gliders were launching out over the Pacific. It was cold that day and we'd driven all over the county so Allison and I weren't too keen to sit outdoors. However, we indulged Robert's curiosity. Admittedly, it was an amazing sight to see this people being lifted by the wind to such great heights.


We had found the Torrey Pines Gliderport on a day that happened to be the best of the year so far for gliding conditions; it must have put all the pilots in a great mood. One approached Allison and began chatting with her. "Are you twelve?," he asked. "Nine, then? Okay good enough to go for a ride." Turns out he was the owner of the facility and he asked her to go up with him. To my amazement she said yes. It all happened so fast. I was signing waivers and she was getting prepped and before I knew it she was in the air. Up until the moment she lifted, I expected her to bail out in fear. And when she finally touched down I looked her face over for tears, but she was all smiles and ready to go at it again. Thank you to Robin Marien, whose confident insistence that Allie was in safe hands led Robert and I to give up our daughter to her greatest adventure ever. On top of that he gave it to her for free.

To view a video of her launch go here:

Escape to San Diego

Now my excuse is that I don't have my camera USB cable to download photos to my Mac. I'm slow to write because we are often without Internet connection. Presently, we are north of San Diego, mostly in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Allison has two weeks off from school so we decided to follow the Brown family up the Baja to San Diego, a road trip that was uneventfully safe. They left last week, but we're here for awhile longer visiting friends and family, shopping, sight-seeing, eating. Eating. I've sampled it all to my heart's content: In-n-Out burgers, corn dogs, VG's donuts, Red Mango frozen yogurt, pasta, pizza, cotton candy, anything that can not be found in Loreto-by-the-Sea, Baja California Sur.

Yessiree. And that is just the eats. We've towed Allison through Sea World, the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, hiking and para-gliding in Torrey Pines, (yes, she para-glided) nearly every museum in Balboa Park, two movies of her choice, and several trips to the shopping mall for all those "necessities" we've been without. At some point we will be fat as ticks and need to return to our aesthetic life in Loreto to deflate. We've spent way too much dinero; it is easy to do in the States. My first trip to the grocery store left me aghast at the price of a loaf of bread, the "good" bread--over $4.00 a loaf. I bought five assorted pastry items at a bakery in Coronado that set me back 14 bucks. And that was after $7.50 a single scoop ice cream cone earlier in the stroll.

We pulled Airstream Abby out of storage. (We'd left her in Phoenix, but our friend borrowed her and stored her nearby.) We've stayed at San Elijo State Park when a site was available and at Campland when San Elijo was full, which is nearly always. Campland in Mission Bay is the Wally World of campsites, a full service operation which adds to comfort, but the atmosphere is amusement park-like. One week was enough. Since we can't get continuous time at San Elijo we'll now be roughing it at a RV park next to the Del Mar racetrack--meaning there is no Internet, cable, or showers.

The San Elijo campground is in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, a little hamlet called along the ocean north of Del Mar with iconic eateries and cute hang-outs. We had breakfast one morning at Pipes, the favorite of surfer dudes. I love to haunt the Seaside Market, a super-cute grocery with eye-popping produce. The campground is booked solid through October. Easy to understand why--a prime location oceanside. It's also surfer central. There is even a surf school on site. At the crossroads of Highway 101 and Chesterfield Drive sits a bronze sculpture of a surfer. He's supposed to represent the heart of Cardiff surf culture, but he's been met with a lot of playful ribbing by residents who've nicknamed him "The Kook," and dress him regularly in goofy attire.

We've been hanging with our good friend, David, who lives in Cardiff, and my cousin who is in Carlsbad. She had us all over for Easter Sunday, Italian-style. She's a W.A.S.P like me, but married an Italian, learned to cook mouth-watering lasagna and command, "Manga!" My mother drove up from Mesa, AZ with a good friend for several days. The days and their events have become blurred--we've packed in so much. I intend to pack in a lot more in the week left to us.

Families tied

I've been lazy about posting, it's true, but my excuse is: we are having too much fun. Our friends and fellow home owners, the Allens,' were in town for a week. They merged with us and the Browns' for one fun-filled, kid-centered day after another: boating, swimming, tennis, hikes, mule-rides, sleep-overs. We traveled as a pack from one activity to another becoming a moving mass of big and little bodies, requiring tables in restaurants to be pushed together, and complex permutations over how 12 people can fit into 2 cars so that 3 certain girls can always sit together and the only two boys are never separated.

Our mule ride near San Javier was especially fun. Actually, the kids rode the mules while we parents trailed behind on foot. It was just less than an hour ride up a gravel trail to a watering hole, no challenge at all. The most interesting aspect of the event, to me, was the little ranch where the ride originated. A open-air shack with an outhouse that requires each user to fill a bucket from the well to dump in the toilet so it could flush. Does that disqualify it from being an outhouse, I wonder? After all, it did have a ceramic toilet.

I guess you could say the owners lived very primitively and self sufficiently. They had a vegetable garden. The goats were all milk goats. The pigs were being fattened. A table in the "house" was strewn with leather and shoe cobbling tools. A windmill served two purposes, one being the landmark to find this remote homestead on the road to San Javier. Of course the car ride itself is half the adventure. Having done it twice I am less easy to scare. The rocky cliff drop-offs on the narrow mountain passes aren't as daunting the second or third time around. However the wreathed memorial spot where the Professor and his lady went sailing off Thelma-and-Louise style to their deaths still elicits a shudder.

There was a flurry of construction in the beginning stretch of the road to San Javier. The state of Baja California Sur intends to pave the entire 32-kilometer road to the Mission. We had to maneuver around the heavy machinery and workers and over some chunky rocks. We even picked up a hitch-hiker. Or rather, Doug Brown did. The man was obviously a worker hoping to catch a ride up a to a waiting crew. Doug hollered for him to go around back. We all waited, uneasy, as we expected him to open the hatch and hop in the car. Instead he stepped onto the bumper and braced himself against the roof rack. Off we went. A mile later he hopped off to join his waiting buddies under a tree.



I'd say the mule adventure was a success meaning no one was injured or bitten by a rattlesnake. A dip in the shallow pool at the end of the ride was another highlight followed by a stop at Del Barrachos for hamburgers and milkshakes and re-entry to the present times.

Outside the lines

I know other homeowners are concerned with the big issue of the future of Loreto Bay as well as the upcoming condo regime meetings, but me, I'm living in my little world, happy in my belief that every little thing's gonna be alright.

I'm one of the homeowners on the ground working on community building, a concept I understood the original Loreto Bay founders wanted to promote. Having lived in the suburbs all my life I was intrigued by the idea of living in a village where neighbors were encouraged to interact. Loreto Bay appealed to me on that level. Here, there are no garages to pull into undetected. I like seeing familiar faces daily and sharing the experience of navigating life in a foreign country together. As the years pass we are establishing a history together and becoming dear friends. That might not be the goal of many who bought here, but for some of us I'm sure it's an desired outcome of village life.

There is a core group that spends a good portion of each year here. We are one of them. Since we have a young child I find myself compelled make our environment as enriching as possible to her. I'm always looking for ways to bring kids together and ensure that their time here is as rich as possible (plus, it gives me something to do.) On Fridays I hold our house open to kids who want to do arts and crafts. So far the number is small; there are not that many children in Loreto Bay. Their recent project I hung on a clothesline outside my house thinking that other residents might enjoy their work, might enjoy anything different and unusual on their strolls through the neighborhood. Today I was asked (politely) to take it down due to condo regime rules. God forbid I dirty up the pristine atmosphere of the stuccoed environment. However, I think my point was made that real people are living here and we're bound to spill outside the lines.

It's time for a community center, a common place for neighbors to gather. I'm hoping somehow I can wrangle a space from whoever-the-powers-that-be are for this purpose. I envision having a commercial space along the Paseo reserved for homeowners for hanging out. It could have a lending library, card tables, games, television, worktables, a bulletin board. It could host workshops, Spanish lessons, etc. Nothing so fancy, just a hang-out. I know this is nowhere near the top of priorities for Loreto Bay and even for homeowners who are still struggling to get their homes built, but it seems worthwhile to me and I hope we can get it started.

Solutions

I'm always after Robert to help me with some project around the house. I like to be a busy-body at home always adding improvements and personal touches. He knows to be ready with the drill. My Christmas present was a chandelier he re-fashioned with star-shaped lanterns for over the patio table. He worked a whole weekend stringing and wiring and balancing the thing. He even gave it a toggle on/off switch. My hero.

R0bert is a closet handy-man who requires just a little shove now and then. So, of course, I feel it necessary to draw out his talents by supplying him with projects. I regret that we don't own more square footage around our little chica for me to design and expand. As it is, I have to work within the confines of this postage stamp-sized abode. Ahh, but there is the outside. My creativity is already spilling outside. I'm eyeing the common spaces around us calculating how I could plant some herbs and flowers or maybe mosaic a cement bench or arrange more potted plants on the sidewalk. On Fridays I have been holding an art/crafts session for the neighborhood kids, the village kids, I think I'll start calling them, up on the patio. My plan is to start displaying their artwork outside for the neighborhood to see. I started to pester Robert about my designs for a display board. It ended in us stopping to see Jeff at West Coast Millworks to build me something.

In a week's time I should have an 8x4 plywood and corkboard panel to mount on a wall outside somewhere. Jeff says I can come to the shop to stain or paint the framing however I wish. I'm thrilled to have a project, Robert is thrilled not to have to build it. The kids will be proud to show off their artwork and I think the residents will be happy to see something creative going on. Everybody wins.

There was just one little more thing: I want either a dutch door or some kind of gate to keep Chloe from wondering outside, yet keep our home open to the outside. Robert tagged along looking for something we could fashion into a gate. Actually, he hoped to find a ready-made baby gate; I hoped he'd build me something less plastic-y. I was talking fencing wire and framing and lumber and hammered iron hardware. I even got him to come along to the Sunday flea market (an event I would never even consider stepping foot in back home but here in Loreto it is a highlight of the week for many shopping-starved souls who hope for the near impossible--a perfect strawberry, an unbruised apple, a pair of unused shoes.) We poked around for the baby gate and, while we were at it, an unusual sized battery for a remote control but finding neither.


We ended up buying a worn filet knife for the equivalent of a buck-fifty, a fabulous find for Robert who needed one for fishing. His mood was considerably perked by the act of procuring a bargain and thus in his mind we were finished and it was time for us to go. I persevered a bit more to gather up some vegetables--a decent head of lettuce, garlic, onions, some shelled peas. I always pass on the raw meat. I don't know, something about raw meat on display in the open, sans refrigeration and protective covering, repels me.

As for the doggie gate: This is my solution and it's cheap. The water jug barrier. No installation required.

Pool progress

This is a photo of the community pool recently filled with water. It should be officially opened in two weeks. Rumor is that the community pool in our cluster is next to be built, but when, I don't know. We are in the neighborhood where the spa was originally planned to be located.

The best schools

This is the inside of Allison's fourth grade classroom. The desks are probably circa-1960, all 33 of them. Heck, maybe one of them could be mine that somehow found it's way down here via divine flea market destiny. The kids are pretty packed in there, but somehow they manage. God bless their patient maestra.

Alllison is actually doing pretty well. Her Spanish is improving so she feels more confident. Her grades are good. She came home with an A in math this week, and it was the hard stuff--triple digit multiplication and fractions. She has plenty of friends, and a boy with a crush on her. Lunch continues to be a problem. There is no cafeteria, no hot lunches, no milk cart. I am burdened with the daily task of preparing something nutritious and interesting. I hate that.

The curriculum can't compare to what we'd get back home, but we're not there for that. For all that is lacking in resources and amenities there is so much on the side of good will. The children are so sweet and accepting, respectful and helpful. The don't have attitudes. I feel good about her being there.

Before we returned here I visited and pre-enrolled her in a private school in Kansas City where her cousins attend. The school has a Harry Potter aura to me as far as it's campus setting. It was founded at the turn of the 20th century and has the look of an ivy-league school that exudes prestige and good taste. I think I just like it for the architecture. My thinking was that we'd put her there this fall, you know, finally be serious parents and get her in a serious school. Yet, when I think about really settling down to it, I hesitate. As wonderful an education it will offer, there is much to be said about the one she's getting here at Colegio Calafia. Even with it's third world disadvantages, it is something uniquely special.

I hope she looks back on these days with fondness and gratitude. If nothing else, she will return to American schools with an appreciation, I hope, for all the abundance and high standards that money can buy. But then, even the poorest of U.S. schools has soap and paper towels in the bathrooms. Heck, any school in the U.S. will seem rich to her after this.

Little colt lost

Allowing livestock to roam freely is regular practice here. So it is no surprise when something becomes road kill. It is just so sad to see this sweet colt go down.

We were growing accustomed to his presence as he followed his mother grazing alongside the highway. We'd usually only see them early in the morning on our way to take Allison to school. We looked forward to spotting him. Today when I saw him lying alongside the road I hoped that maybe he was just sleeping, but on the way back I checked him, actually touched him. His flesh was still soft so the accident must have happened early this morning. What else I could do I did not know. I'm sure the owner will discover him soon enough. So sad.

It made me recall a story I read about this horse that lived on the Silverado Trail near Calistoga, California. Everyone was familiar with this old horse. He became a living landmark to the people who drove past him every day on their way to work or school year after year. When he died the whole community mourned; they laid wreaths and notes along the barbed wire fence where he lived. The people felt they had lost something communally important, a shared treasure.

I thought a lot about this story at the time. I'd driven along the Silverado Trail so I knew how pastoral and beautiful it was. I could imagine what a lovely sight this horse in this setting was to the commuters passing by. But more than a pretty sight, he was surely a reassuring one. And more than that, a representative of a simplier, slower way of life in the past. I understood completely why he was beloved.

Our little colt didn't hang around long enough to become an icon. Still, the feeling of loss is similar to that of the people in my story.

Boating Fun

We took the Allen family boating today. We made a stop at Puerto Escondido for gasoline and then over to Danzante Island for some beach time.






Our favorite little Allen guy, Clayton, found these crab legs.









Bruce, from Dolphin Dive was there instructing a couple in diving. He found some gigantic clams.




Robert was gracefully busy finding something that needed fixing on his boat.

What's good

The neighborhood was a little busier than usual this weekend as it was Homeowners Weekend. I hope too many of them aren't disappointed with the progress. As we await news on who has bought our development we watch as some projects proceed and others are at a standstill. The sidewalks along the west side of the Paseo are almost completed, but work on the road itself has ceased.
There is a crew working diligently on the community pool (I hear it is just weeks away from completion.) There are some crews that continue the work on the rock walls of the estuaries and some building in Agua Viva. Work on the Pasadas is non-existent.

Of course, we hope this all changes as a new owner comes on board. Nobody seems to know anything much. We just keep asking each other the same questions. However, we ourselves, aren't worried. Robert and I know things will sort themselves out eventually. Momentum is slow now, but it still feels to me that things are moving forward. We have faith.

I like to joke that we are happy in our own little world, living in our little chica. We ride our bikes avoiding the potholes and pitfalls like we own the place. We say to each other that these might be the good old days--when everything was fresh and uncertain and we dug right in. Still, we do like to dream. Wouldn't it be nice to have a convenience market in Nopolo? When will the tennis center be manned again and the bathrooms unlocked? Will we ever get a beach club? Meanwhile we accentuate the positive.

We have found one wonderful, marvelous bright spot in dining: La Mision on the Malecon. We've eaten there four times now, each time a perfect experience. I never rave about restaurant; I am not a foodie, but when we eat at La Mision we end up talking about it all the next day. Last night we went with the Browns to celebrate Valentines Day. The chef, Rodrigo, had a special menu for the evening. When everyone in the restaurant was seated with their champagne he came to the floor and explained the courses and his decisions behind his selections. Then he returned to the kitchen where he proceeded to prepare course after course of delicious and interesting food all presented beautifully. For a couple of hours we were completely transported to another reality of white tablecloths and rolls with herbed butter and lamb chops in cherry reduction sauce with crispy fried yam chips: the spell broken only when we stepped outside the door to the noisy Malecon and the Saturday cruisers and the wafting scent of the stinky pelican-infested marina.

Keeping it real...here in beautiful Loreto.

Vultures

Driving to Loreto this morning I saw a flock of turkey vultures pecking on what looked like a dead dog. Actually, it was a colony, not flock (I looked it up.) When I pulled over some of the birds flew off, but these undaunted big boys stayed firm on their perches.





I imagine the spreading of the wings is supposed to signify "back-off, intruder." I think they were more afraid I'd take their lunch. Yuck.

I've written about these guys before--in our early days in Loreto Bay. And they still creep me out.

Our own Mayberry

We are humming right along. There is a nice, if simple, rhythm to our lives here in Loreto. I get up early to get Allison off to school, then Robert and I either work-out at the hotel gym or play tennis. We try to get out on our boat at least once a week. We take a long walk every other afternoon before sunset. Sometimes we follow the golf course to the tennis center, sometimes we walk closer to the ocean.

We visit with friends, work on little projects around the house. I read, surf the web, take naps on the terrace, think about what to make for dinner. Twice a week I take Spanish lessons in town. There is no stress whatsoever in our lives and we are grateful. I watch the news from the U.S. and it seems our country is falling apart. It makes me anxious and angry. I feel helpless to fix it. The problems are so big. The one thing I can do is create a sweet life here. Here, in Loreto Bay, everything is on a small scale and fresh. From here, we feel removed and protected. Are we escapists, I wonder? Should I feel bad about feeling so relaxed? Naaaaahhh.

All this will come to an end eventually. Eventually, I'll want Allison to go to school in the States, to get a better education than she could get here. And I want her to grow up feeling like an American. I love America for better or worse. But for the time being, this is a wonderful way to live. It's small town living with an exotic twist. Every day presents something for me to marvel over, do a double-take over, or just shake my head in astonished amusement. I do worry though, that my sense of wonderment will give way to complacency. How surprised can one be at the sight of cows and horses and burros on the highway every morning?

Allison's Spanish is improving. We and another family hired a local teacher, Natalia, to work with our children every day after school. She comes to our houses and helps with homework. Today they gathered around our table on the terrace--not a bad setting for school.

We parents work together to enrich the children's education by holding after-school classes. Doug Brown teaches world history or geography; I'm doing arts/crafts. All of us pitch in one way or another. And of course, the outdoor environment holds endless possibilities for exploration and adventure. The kids get to fish, go clamming, build sandcastles, ride their bikes all through the neighborhood. And they do something else, which rarely, if ever, happens at home in the suburbs: They stop and visit with adults. Most homeowners are here for leisure, so they have the time and the inclination to chat with our kids. It is not uncommon for Allison to drop in to say hello to Sherry and Tom. She'll visit with their dog, Chewy, and the parrots. Earlier, when Dee's dog had puppies, Allison and other children in the neighborhood regularly stopped in to cuddle them and chat with Dee. Ariel has invited children to her house to paint with watercolors.

There are just as many working adults, too. Allison is familiar with a great deal of the Loreto Bay staff and the other independent professionals by name. Daily, she gets little glimpses into the world of landscapers, maintenance men, architects, hotel staff. She gets to see Peter draw design plans in his office adjacent to our house. She watches workers laying pavers or setting water lines. She watches people at work every day all around her. So when I fret about the quality of her education I remember that I need to factor these elements in. Whatever is lacking in formal learning, is certainly balanced by the bounty of offerings right outside our door.