Random fun that happened this week....

Every day is a new day down here...just when we think we have heard and seen it all, there is a new surprise waiting for us around the corner...making life a ton of fun and very interesting to say the least...

Sayulita celebrated their Guadalupe Day festivities from Dec 4-12...however, it took us until December 7th before we knew what was really happening...each morning around 5am we were woken up by the loud sounds of cannons...there would be between 6-10 loud booms at 5am and then a few more around 5:45am...we found out that this 5am wake up call is so that the town folk can make sure they make it to mass at 6am each day during this week of honoring Guadalupe...Each local neighborhood had their own parade, band and celebration during these 8 days and there was music, costumes, dancing in the streets and prayer times in the church...it is quite the week long celebration and after a few days we were use to the 5am wake up calls...the Guadalupe Day Celebrations culminated on December 12th, with more festivities and partying in the plaza...a big procession of Guadalupe floats, fireworks, cannons, bands playing, horses dancing and people dressed in costume...it was such a cool event to be a part of...Catholic mass took place at approx. 7pm and the rest of the evening was a party...complete with a home made Bull running around shooting fireworks out of it in the plaza...we have never seen anything quite that crazy before...

This is the home made Bull that a person wore on their back and had fireworks shooting out of it...CRAZY!

Getting our Mexican cell phones was another interesting experience...since we can not call Mexican phone numbers from our cell phones from the USA...we were told it would be best for us to get Mexican cell phones so that Mark and I could communicate with each other when we are apart, as well as be able to call our property manager, the water truck, the CFE (Electrical guys), restaurants in town and any of our new friends that we have met...everyone has one of these cheap cell phones...They do not require contracts, you just add minutes when you need them...the basic LG phone cost approx 299- 399 pesos (less than $25 - $35 usd) and it comes with 25 free minutes per month for the first 3 months...after that talk time costs 1 peso per minute...you have to make sure you use all of your minutes up with in the month, otherwise you lose them...anyways, we ventured out the first week were arrived in Sayulita to purchase our new cell phones, only to find out that the person working in the store did not speak any English at all and the cheaper phones we wanted to buy were all sold out...so we decided to wait a few days and check back...so each week for the past 4 weeks we would stop into the cell phone store a couple times a week and see if they had any new phones and see if anyone spoke English...and each time we would walk out empty handed...finally, this past week, there was a guy working in the store that spoke just a little bit of English and they had 2 of the phones that we were hoping to buy...so we took the plunge, we bought two of them...the guy opened up the boxes, made a call to Telcel, programmed the phones to work and sent us out the door...however, when we arrived home, we found that he had programmed them in Spanish and we could not unlock the phones to even make a call...so the next day, Mark took the phones back to the store and two very nice girls helped him program the phones in English, unlocked the phones and showed him how to make a call...so we are good to go...and we even made and received our first calls yesterday and they work great...you just don't want to have too long of a conversation with the person on the other line, since you only have 25 free minutes a month...

Buying our Mexican Cell phones at Telcel and the guy speaks a little English :)  Almost like a Verizon store ....

These were all of the phone options that we could purchase.

Tuesday was a big day....we spotted our first Whales of the season...sitting on our terrace having breakfast, looking out across the ocean... first we spotted the water spout, followed by the Whale rising out of the water...the sea was very calm, so it was easy to spot them...it was so cool and they were not very far off shore...since that first sighting we have seen many more, usually in the morning...It is just the beginning of their migration from North to South...for the next 3 months there will be plenty of sightings as well as close up encounters on the Whale watching cruises...we will be able to watch them breach out of the water as well as be playful in their pods...They are amazing to watch and hope to see them up close some day soon...

Also on Tuesday, Mark was invited by our property manager Ramon, to ride in to Puerto Vallarta to go to Home Depot and Costco...since I had to work (lots of clients to talk to and vacations to book), Mark decided it was a great opportunity for a chance to check out two of the more popular "Americanized stores" in Puerto Vallarta...He was very curious to see what products were available at the Home Depot store (I think he was going through Home Depot with drawl and had to have his tool fix)...and we made a short list of stuff to purchase at Costco (if they had the same items that we were use to back in the states)...It was great to find out that our Costco membership card from home is accepted down here and we could use our American Express card to pay...The trip into Puerto Vallarta would take approx 45 minutes and they departed around noon...knowing that it was going to be an all day event...I did not expect them back until after 6pm....
They drove in Ramon's 1980, 2 door mustang, which is currently in a restoration mode...Mark said the entire car was gutted out inside...from the seats, to the doors, to the dash board to the floor...he was not totally sure it was drivable...but it made it down the jungle road from Sayulita to the highway 200, in to Puerto Vallarta without a problem...after several stops...The pool supply store, the bank, Carl Jr.'s for a quick lunch (hamburger and fries), Home Depot, Costco and Sam's Club...they had had enough of shopping and made their way back to Sayulita...it was a successful shopping trip...they found the correct screws at Home Depot to fix our sliding doors, and Mark came home with some goodies from Costco....One professional boogie board, two Tommy Bahama beach chairs (with the cool back pack & cooler), some peanuts, Ceasar dressing, Raisin Bran cereal, Parmesan cheese, Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai Berries (yum!), a bottle of Tequila and some toilet paper....a very success shopping day at Costco..

Mark sporting his new back pack Tommy Bahama chair and boogie board!

We have been trying to find a Mexican blanket or throw to put on the futon couch in our living area...we are not thrilled with the brown blanket that is currently on there, so we have been on a mission to find some thing that we like... not too expensive, soft for sitting on and something local...Every Sunday is the local Mexican market downtown Sayulita...some locals come from 1-2 hours away, with truck loads of home made crafts, jewelry, pottery, furniture, clothes etc...and others offer flea market type items...it is fun to go and browse and practice some of our newly learned Spanish phrases...such as " Cuanto es"?  (How much is?)
We were walking through the market and came across one of the clothing vendors and there hanging on the end of a rack, was a woman's black T-shirt that said "Saugatuck Michigan"...(small world)...only 20 pesos (approx $1.75)....we also found several blankets we liked...now to decide on which color and find out who is offering the best price...Every Sunday Market is a different experience, with new vendors, products and foods for sale...we always look forward to a stroll into town on Sunday... :)

I would have purchased this had it been my size... :)

Got to love the vendors who show you every color of blanket for sale....

Sunday Market....

Appliances are brought by pick up truck to the Plaza every Sunday to sell...



This week also brought with it a little trauma for me...I broke a crown/tooth on Wednesday ...  my bottom tooth , back molar...!  I guess my tooth did not like the flax seeds in the tostada that I was eating...anyways, the piece that broke off  left a jagged peak...not so much fun to talk or eat, when my tongue was getting shred to pieces by the jagged edge...so finally, today I called one of the two dentists in Sayulita to see if I could get an appointment, he said because it was an emergency he would fit me in...I had read good things on line about this dentist (he is Italian and speaks good English),  so I walked into town and sat in the waiting room, while he was with another patient...since I had experienced dental work in Mexico before (Cancun & Mayan Rivera), I pretty much knew what to expect...small waiting room, one dental room, no other staff, old magazines to read, sort of modern equipment and inexpensive prices...Dr. Roberto was very nice, he was able to file down my jagged peak so that I can now talk with out injury  and he didn't even charge me for the service...however, he basically told me that I need a root canal, a tooth buildup and a new crown...the process will take 3 to 4 visits, approx 2-3 weeks and cost approx 5,800 pesos...that's a great deal considering all that will have to be done, but not too much fun for me, especially over the holidays...ugh!  Maybe I will wait and have my tooth fixed after my boys go back to Michigan... :)

Dr. Roberto's waiting room at the Dentist office...

Last, but not least we were having a quiet dinner on the terrace tonight, just about sunset (6:00pm local time), listening to the ocean waves and all of a sudden there was chanting, drums beating and a big fire...the villa complex below our terrace seem to be having a ceremony of some kind...so I quickly went online and checked out the calendar of events for Sayulita and sure enough...there was a "Fire renewal Ceremony" going on tonight from 6pm-7:30pm...
It stated that the fire was brought in from Talpa de Allende (from the Sierra mountains near Puerto Vallarta) specially for this ceremony...there was going to be face painting, a heart opening Buddhist meditation and the opportunity to draw sacred geometry collectively, and it would end with a "gong bath"....it all made no sense to us...as we sat there and listened for over an hour to the drums beating, and chanting and watching the fire do its thing...we wondered who the participants had been and had they experienced what they had hoped they would...?

The village of Sayulita sure is an eclectic group of people, where the surfer dudes get along with the yoga and pilates crowd, where the local Mexicans can celebrate their culture like they have for thousands of years and where the gringos can respect and enjoy the beauty of the land...
It sure is a magical place and we are so glad that that we found it...and we still have to pinch ourselves each day as we realize that we truly are blessed to be able to live here...

Have a great week....