Leaving Vallarta...

I left Puerto Vallarta this past Friday evening at 10PM and it was more difficult than I ever thought it would be.  In fact, I spent most of the day in the condo preparing for my move to San Diego, mainly because leaving the condo meant that I would have to say goodbye to the people and things that I didn't want to say goodbye to.  Obviously, pushing that off as long as possible was a much better plan!

By 3PM, I was running out of daylight, so I left the condo and headed to Salud, one of my favorites.  Salud Superfood is owned by a couple from Seattle that moved down to Vallarta about two years ago.  They realized that Vallarta was missing a healthy food option with fresh smoothies, so they decided to fill the gap.  The food is incredible (Smoothies, Quinoa bowels, salads, sandwiches, etc.) and the staff are incredibly friendly, and knowledgeable.  As I walked in for my last lunch there, I was greeted by Willy and Alfred, one of the owners and a guy that works there.  It's neat how the familiarity of seeing someone can immediately bring a smile to your face.  Willy and I started chatting one day abut he and his wife's experience in opening Salud and their gluten free adventures.  I thought that we had it difficult with FiddleCakes when we were having gluten free flours shipped to us from the West.  It was impossible for them to have flours shipped from the states and instead, they learned a very expensive and difficult lesson when they tried to bring organic quinoa in from Peru.  Without an organic trade agreement between Mexico and Peru, Mexico wanted to add chemicals to the quinoa and then wouldn't allow it to pass through customs.  The quinoa never actually made it to them and instead was auctioned off.  Crazy!  Until they could figure out the best way to produce their own quinoa, they have started using chia seeds as the binder in their gluten free cookies.  Willy brought me one to try when I told him about FiddleCakes.  

On this particular day, I ordered the Pacha Azul- A quinoa burger with turkey bacon and blue cheese. I also ordered an agua fresca... Piña (pineapple) with basil.  It was as good as it sounds! The flavors of everything I had there were intense and go very well together.  I may have "borrowed" a to-go menu in hopes of recreating some of the dishes once in SD.  Shhhh!  

After I sat down, Alfred brought me his contact info and asked if I wanted to stay in contact.  Of course I did!  Alfred grew up in the states and moved to Mexico about a year ago.  He was in Mexico because he hoped to open a restaurant one day and it was easier to open a restaurant in Mexico.  In the meantime, he was working at Salud to get some experience and better understand what it takes to run a restaurant.  Such a neat guy.  I have a renewed appreciation for facebook and social media after this trip.  I have met so many neat folks that are on their own journey and it has been amazing to cross their paths while having my own crazy adventure.  The last thing that I wanted to do was say goodbye and never see them again.    

I left Salud and headed to Swell.  Swell is a beach bar and restaurant.  Mom and I discovered this place in November when we realized that the pool at our condo didn't get sun in the fall.  We went out searching for a chair at the beach and happened upon Swell, in all of its glory!  In November, we met Jorge and Andres.  They were great guys that worked at Swell and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing them as we came back to Swell almost every day for a few hours.  We weren't the typical folks that hung at the beach all day, every day, but we definitely had fun getting to know these guys.  In fact, we made quite the impression on a number of people at Swell one day when we were buying gifts from some of the vendors walking by.  At one point, we had two vendors with their wares strewn out over our beach chairs and my mom and I were each negotiating deals.  It was fun, but apparently we made quite the scene.  The next day, a lady that was sitting close to us the day before starting asking us for tips. Hilarious!

Juan, Andres, Me, and Alejandro at Swell

Anyhow, upon coming back to Vallarta, I knew where I would spend most of my time.  If I was going live in a beach town I might as well hang out on the beach with great people.  To my surprise, the first day I stopped by Swell, neither Jorge nor Andres were there.  Jorge had decided to take some time off and focus on his restaurant and Andres was tending bar, but also working on a business.  I, of course, visited Jorge's restaurant a few times during my time in Vallarta so that I could see him and support his venture.  As far as Swell goes - It didn't take long to get to know the entire staff.  As my friend Neal put it (when he came to visit), Swell was like the Mexican equivalent of Cheers.  Well, at least it was for me!  If I showed up and there weren't any chairs, the guys would bring a new one out and put me by the ocean.  There were definitely perks, but I would have stopped by regardless! :)  The food wasn't cheap, but it was very good and the view was unmatched.  It's funny how experiences change you.  

Emmy, Neal, and Me

When I vacationed in PV in November, I hated sand and only dealt with it to enjoy the sun.  After spending about every other day on the beach (at Swell), being dunked in the ocean just off the beach by my wonderful friend, Buck (after he learned that I rarely went into the water - I was fully clothed by the way), and having some seriously incredible moments with friends (new and old) on the beach, It became clear that there wasn't much about the beach to hate.  It was awesome and leaving it sucked.  Good thing I am moving to another beach ;)  

Carlos and Me

I loved introducing people to Swell and it was always fun to arrive on an afternoon and come across Emmy (a new friend from Sweden that lives in Portland with her husband).  We met in Spanish class and she may have loved Swell as much I as I do.  One Friday evening, a group of us made plans to meet up with Alejandro (one of the guys from Swell).  We met at the church in Old Town and headed back to where he was staying.  Come to find out, he was staying with his friends, Andres and Patty, the owners of Swell.  They had this amazing house with a very cool outdoor patio.  We ended up at their place until about midnight and then went salsa dancing at a Cuban club on the Malecon!  Of course on the way, we stopped so that I could try the giant swing at La Vaquita.  Who wouldn't want to swing on a giant swing above a bar on the Malecon?!  It was definitely one of those nights that you wake up from and wonder if it really happened.  It was a blast.

It was great to meet folks at Swell and run into friends, but some days it was fun to just to be there by myself.  Some of the guys would stop by when they weren't busy or between tables and chat with me.  Besides being able to practice my Spanish, it was always a welcome break from my homework or my book.  A few days before I left, I headed to Swell and was just enjoying a quiet afternoon when Juan brought me the salad I ordered and asked why the ticket said "mi novia" on it.  I just started laughing.  Poor Juan was obviously confused.  Edgar, another one of the waiters had written on the ticket after he told Juan that I was his novia.  At this moment, I realized that I had spent a great deal of time at this restaurant.  Lots of great memories, lots of laughs.  We even laughed off the day that I received a text message from one of guys' phones asking me to "Plis never again contact me."  His visiting "friend" was having a bad day and she didn't appreciate me being friends with her "friend."  Apparently, some things are similar around the world! Oops!

Juan, Me, and Andres

On my last day, I walked into Swell and started the process of saying adios.  I was led to a chair by the ocean and spent a few hours reading, enjoying the view, and of course, chatting with my new friends.  Just before I left, I took some photos with a few of the guys that were finishing up their shift.  It was definitely bittersweet.  I was excited for the next phase of my trip, but I really didn't have an answer to, "When will you return?"  My answer became.... "San Diego is close enough for a long weekend, but I don't know.  Definitely next year."  So much can change in a year, but hopefully I will see these new friends when I do return. 


For the last time this trip, I hugged Andres, Alejandro, and Juan after a good bit of laughing and joking around and headed back up the hill.  I was taking an overnight bus to Leon that had a 10PM departure and didn't want to miss it!

     

Andres, Me, and Alejandro

24 hours in the condo

I woke up Thursday morning with horrible allergies.  They were so bad that I left in the middle of class to
 walk to the pharmacy.  I figured that I would be back to "normal" in no time, so after class instead of heading home to rest... I went to the beach.

Swell Restaurant and Beach Bar

I have a routine and skipping out on seeing everyone at Swell seemed inexcusable! :)  Unfortunately, I hadn't considered how exhausted I was from the previous couple of weeks - Guadalajara, the 4 hour hike to Las Animas, Sayulita, entertaining a friend, and of course, all of the sun and studying.  I know, I know... rough life.  Trust me -  I am not complaining!  Sometimes, I just don't know when to rest.  Anyhow, I woke up Friday morning feeling much worse and the thought of walking up and down the stairs hit me.  I decided to go back to sleep for an hour or so, but instead woke up in time to check-in with my friends from school as they finished the school day.  The last thing that I wanted to do was miss a day of class, but apparently I needed the rest.  I spent about 36 hours in the condo and was only awake for 10 of them.  In the 10 hours that I was awake, I lacked the energy to do anything, but was also completely, and utterly bored.  It's funny how feeling sick in paradise can somehow feel much lonelier than being sick at home.

Guadalajara

              Hiking to Las Animas

 
   








By Saturday morning I was feeling much better and knew that I had to get out of the condo.  I had entirely too much time to think.  I had figured out the rest of my trip and when I would fly back to Nashville, I caught up with some great friends, researched where I would live in San Diego, and essentially planned my move from Nashville to San Diego.  Problem was, I still had a month and had a lot more fun and adventure ahead.  I decided a short walk down to Swell on Playa Los Muertos for a couple of hours would be sufficient for the day.  I should know by now that my days are never just quiet and insignificant.

Before I left the condo, Jake and Elizabeth had reached out about heading to the Botanical Gardens on

Botanical Gardens - Hall of Flowers

 Sunday - a trip that I had already done and would probably do again before I left, so I opted out, but not before inviting them to join me at Swell.  I knew Jake in passing from the Nashville entrepreneurial community and back in December, a friend suggested we chat since Jake was planning a move to PV.  I would have never guessed that I would get to know Jake and his gf, Elizabeth, in Puerto Vallarta.  Obviously, at the time that we spoke, I was planning to be in Nashville for awhile and PV was a place I loved to visit.  

Anyhow, I headed down to Swell about 2PM and per usual, all of the seats were taken.  Usually that would require sitting underneath the Palapa or waiting for a seat to come available.  However, since I have come to know everyone there (including hanging out with some of the owners), one of the guys that has become a friend, Alejandro, asked if I wanted to sit on the beach.  I said yes and followed him through all of the people sunbathing, while stopping along the way to say hello and briefly chat with the staff.  I am really trying to speak Spanish, but that means that my conversations are generally limited.  They seem to get a little better each day, but sometimes it takes me so long to think through the correctly conjugated sentence and I feel bad that all that I can get out is a brief, "How are you?"  and "What's going on?"  

Once at the edge of the ocean, and while he is setting up my lounge chair, Alejandro turns to the guy that I will now be sitting in front of and says - do you mind if we put our friend here?  The guy is an older Canadian and is a champ.  He responds to Alejandro with, "At least I know that you'll be back a good bit with her here."  I just smiled and started a conversation with him.  Might as well get to know my beach neighbors if I am going to block their view of the ocean...especially if I am by myself.  I mention to Alejandro that I am happy to move if chairs open up or if anyone joins me, but he tells me not to worry about it.  After an hour of studying, I look up and Jake and Elizabeth have found me!  Instead of moving, two more chairs were brought down.  The beach cleared out pretty early and by about 530PM, most folks had left.  Alejandro finished with work at about 5ish and joined us.

As the day was coming to a close, a vendor walked by and he seemed familiar, so I stopped him.  He was one of the guys that I was looking for.  Back in November while I was visiting, I bought a bracelet from him, but forgot to have him shorten it for me.  I had brought the bracelet back to PV and had been carrying it with me to the beach in hopes of having him fix it.  Once I explained what I wanted and took the bracelet out, he said he remembered me and immediately sat down and went to work shortening my bracelet.  We chatted the whole time and I understood most of what he was saying until Alejandro came back from a swim and they started chatting.  I caught part of the conversation, but I have some serious work to do with my Spanish!  Roberto (the vendor) was very nice and as thrilled as I am that my bracelet is the right size, I feel like I should be more surprised that I found him.  It's moments like these where I am reminded how small this city of 400,000 can be.  

The four of us (Jake, Elizabeth, Alejandro, and I) had just decided to stay for the sunset when I heard a friend's voice.  Emmy, a Portlandian originally from Sweden, that I met here in School, and her husband, Paul, had decided to walk to Swell for dinner.  Paul is in town visiting for the weekend and they are staying at Playa Los Arcos, a hotel just down the beach.  They grabbed a couple of chairs just behind us and the six of us hung out and enjoyed the amazing sunset!

Sunset from Swell: Feb 1

It's so easy to be here and everyone just seems so happy.  The days that seem to be "just another day" turn out to be those of great memories!  Randomly meeting someone new at the beach, having a great conversation in Spanish, or running into new friends makes for great fun!  I don't know if it just having so much time alone, but the clarity that I have about what is important and what I want to do next is kind of amazing to me and really exciting.  So many of the worries that I came with seem to have disappeared and I have come to realize that there really are amazing people everyone you go and that it isn't that tough to find them.  I'm thrilled that I have four more weeks of adventure in Mexico (Vallarta, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City) and am pretty excited about the month following!