Mexico

Mark & Silvia, his lovely Spanish teacher

Mark & Silvia, his lovely Spanish teacher

After two weeks we’ve left Puerto Escondido. For the most part it was a great stop, the second-longest (after Puerto Vallarta last January) since we left Boston well over two-and-a-half years ago now. There’s definitely something to say about stopping for longer periods like that, though in practice there’s so much of the world still to see that it’ll probably be a couple years before we start slowing down significantly.

Puerto Escondido is a pretty sleepy, quiet place, particularly up in the area where we were staying. Thus we had a pretty standard routine: Mark had to get up by 6:30 to have time for coffee & breakfast before heading off to his 8:00 AM class. He wasn’t real fond of that early morning schedule. I had more leisure, and better breakfasts: a little restaurant five minutes from our hotel made the world’s greatest cheese-and-chorizo omelet (seriously – it was amazing) but it didn’t open until 8:00 so Mark only got it on weekend mornings. You could get that great omelet and a nice little bowl of fresh fruit for a little under $4.50. Just one reason we love Mexico.

Adelina, who owns our hotel with her brother, drove us to the bus station on our way out. A new mother - her baby was just seven weeks old when we arrived - they own two little hotels in Puerto Escondido that they built from the ground up, and that are at the top of TripAdvisor's list here. And they're building a third hotel down the beach an hour or so. And her husband has a chemical business in Mexico City. So yeah, they're a little busy.

Adelina, who owns our hotel with her brother, drove us to the bus station on our way out. A new mother – her baby was just seven weeks old when we arrived – they own two little hotels in Puerto Escondido that they built from the ground up, and that are at the top of TripAdvisor’s list here. And they’re building a third hotel down the beach an hour or so. And her husband has a chemical business in Mexico City. So yeah, they’re a little busy.

Then it was beach, lunch on the beach – typically ceviche as an appetizer and then some cooked fish, all very fresh, maybe listening to some Canadian at the table next to us explaining to his Canadian friend how American politics works. (He wasn’t as smart or insightful as he thought himself to be….) Then back to the hotel to rest from all that excitement. We found three or four restaurants along the five- or six-block strip near our hotel that we liked and would bounce back and forth from one night to the next, typically with our sociologist friend Scott and always after a pre-dinner drink at Revolucion.

I did manage to get some errands done, the kind of stuff that you need to be settled a bit to take care of. I got new lenses for my glasses (at about a third what it would have cost in Boston), we both got our teeth cleaned (at half the cost of a cleaning in Boston), replaced some shorts that had too many holes even for me. And we got all the SIM card stuff working on our phones which has made a huge difference for us. Now our phones are online pretty much all the time and – this was a surprise to us – the phones work as wifi hot-spots for our iPads, meaning they’re online too. SO much better service than we had with AT&T when we were paying four or five times as much.

Our last night in Puerto Escondido at Revolucion, the little bar where we'd start the night with a little glass of mezcal. The woman on the left was the owner. Next to her is Scott, who's spending a couple months down there on sabbatical, and Fani, our favorite bartender.

Our last night in Puerto Escondido at Revolucion, the little bar where we’d start the night with a little glass of mezcal. The woman on the left was the owner. Next to her is Scott, who’s spending a couple months down there on sabbatical, and Fani, our favorite bartender.

Now after a lovely two weeks meeting fun people and hanging out at the beach we’re moving a couple hours down the coast on our way overland into Guatemala. First a couple days on another beach and then we head inland toward San Cristobal and some Mayan ruins. We see a lot of ruins…

Carrizalillo Beach, viewed from the top of the 169 steps leading down there

Carrizalillo Beach, viewed from the top of the 169 steps leading down there

After our overnight in Mexico City we hopped a flight to Puerto Escondito, a coastal city in southwestern Oaxaca. Mark came here four years ago for a short week after studying Spanish for a month in the city of Oaxaca and always raved about the beautiful beach, great food, and cheap accommodations. So we figured it would be a good place to recover from the brutal cold of Boston. (It wasn’t actually brutally cold, but compared to our norm…) Mark is studying Spanish for two weeks while I’m going to the beach.

We’ve been here for a week now, with one more to go. Ultimately there’s not a lot to write about since he spends four hours a day or so studying Spanish and I spend most of my spare time (and yes, all my time is spare) reading at the beach. Here are our impressions so far.

Looking down Carrizalillo Beach with the row of beach restaurants back there

Looking down Carrizalillo Beach with the row of beach restaurants back there

Mark had always described Puerto Escondido as a place where kind of skanky (spell check wants to correct that to “swanky” which is a pretty big change) Canadians come to spend their winters. Wikipedia is a little kinder; it simply describes the tourists as a “downscale and eclectic” crowd. Either way, it’s a major part of the attraction here; it’s just a beautiful beach with a small city of maybe 20,000 and some tourist infrastructure but nothing fancy. Quiet, warm, with great water and cheap beach restaurants.

There are a variety of beaches in Puerto Escondido, with the easternmost – Zicatela – a wide, long, world-famous surfing beach. Our favorite is a the much smaller Carrizalillo, all but hidden in a little cove on the western edge of the city. There are several small beach restaurants that provide chairs, umbrellas, and some pretty good seafood for lunch. Because there are 169 steps down to Carrizalillo (and, perhaps more daunting, 169 steps up from Carrizalillo after your beach time) it’s never too crowded here. Food, sand, warm water, umbrellas: yeah, that’s what we look for.

The entrance to our little hotel - nice pool, comfy little lounge area

The entrance to our little hotel – nice pool, comfy little lounge area

My favorite parts so far, besides the beach? We have a great little hotel, Villa Lili, maybe six or seven rooms at most, just a 10-minute walk from the beach. Our room is huge, with windows on three sides for great ventilation and a big hot tub. Cool lighting, a pool in the public area, nice owners, and all that for $99 a night. No AC, which worried us, but between the natural ventilation and some great fans in the room it hasn’t been a problem.

And our room with some mood lighting and a big room for the hot tub

And our room with some mood lighting and a big room for the hot tub

One nice thing about Villa Lili is that it’s the sort of place where you are almost forced to meet the other guests so we’ve gotten to know Scott, a Canadian sociologist who’s spending his two-month sabbatical here. (One of his primary research topics is people who read self-help books and what they get from them. Fascinating conversations!) And Rob & Antonia, a 30-something Vancouver couple with a little two-year-old, trying to figure out how they can quit working and just live someplace like this. And trying to figure out how to get their cute little boy to stop SCREAMING. He’s impressive.

And … while we’re a 20-minute walk from the main tourist area, there’s a nice little strip of tourist restaurants and small bars just a couple minutes from the hotel. So we have a little place where we can enjoy a shot of Mezcal before choosing Mexican or French options for dinner. Another highlight of the area is two – count them, two – laundry services where we can drop of clothes and for an embarrassingly small amount have our laundry done. That is luxury.

Our chairs and umbrella from our little lunch table

Our chairs and umbrella from our little lunch table

Another view of Carrizalillo Beach

Another view of Carrizalillo Beach

The owner of our favorite little Mezcal bar and his cute son

The owner of our favorite little Mezcal bar and his cute son

And our friendly bartender, showing her skills at balancing a bottle of mezcal on her head!

And our friendly bartender, showing her skills at balancing a bottle of mezcal on her head!

I've long thought the Public Garden in Boston is the most beautiful urban space in the country. Now I think it's one of the most beautiful urban spaces in the world. For the record Mark took this picture of me there on the left taking a picture of the Public Garden.

I’ve long thought the Public Garden in Boston is the most beautiful urban space in the country. Now I think it’s one of the most beautiful urban spaces in the world. For the record Mark took this picture of me there on the left taking a picture of the Public Garden.

A few months ago we decided that, instead of spending the winter in Africa as was then our tentative plan, we would fly back to Boston for a New Year’s Eve wedding and then go down to Latin America. Imagine our delight, then, to find a direct non-stop flight from Dakar to Dulles Airport in suburban Virginia. Or at least imagine our delight in finding that flight if you knew Mark’s sister lives in suburban Virginia not far at all from Dulles. It seemed as though it was meant to be.

Thus we found ourselves arriving in the DC area at 6:30 AM on December 27. Arriving back in the States is a little disorienting for us, almost like a bit of culture shock. Everything is so big and clean and smooth and easy. You can buy anything you need (and lots of things you don’t need) and it’s pretty easy to figure out where to get it. People love to complain about the traffic and crazy drivers pretty much wherever you are, but if you haven’t traveled in Italy or Senegal or Bangkok or damned near anywhere else we’ve been, you have no right to complain.

Mark with his parents and sister Jeanne in front of her Christmas tree

Mark with his parents and sister Jeanne in front of her Christmas tree

At any rate, here we were for a two-day visit with Mark’s sister and her family. And then it turns out his parents had come out for Christmas and decided to stay for our visit so we got to see them, too. Jeanne accommodated all our shopping needs – when traveling long-term outside the U.S. you build up a list of things you really want to get if and when you ever get back – and cooked for us in her spare time. Then we’d play games after dinner and maybe have a drink or two. A great short visit.

Mark & his mother deep into one of our evening games

Mark & his mother deep into one of our evening games

Then it was a quick flight up to Boston for the main event, the wedding of a great friend and former employee. (Former as in he’s still there, but we’re not.) It’s always strange to go back to a city you lived in for nearly 20 years and see it as a tourist, staying in a downtown hotel instead of our old Cambridge neighborhood. It’s easy to forget when you live there just what a beautiful city Boston is, but after a couple years away we were really struck by Boston. Not enough to want to live there in the winter again, but struck nonetheless.

Lots of our time was taken up by various wedding activities, including of course the main event on New Year’s Eve at the Institute of Contemporary Art, a pretty great venue for a wedding. We also had time to see some old friends who weren’t part of the wedding but the strange thing is that we were enjoying those visits so much that we didn’t take any pictures of them. So you’ll have to trust me that dinner with Marc – whom we may have convinced to join us biking in Italy early next summer – and lunch with Dara, Randi, and Al were great fun.

Shayna & John getting ready to take their vows. Their friend Jane is officiating; they met her back in 2008 when Jane was an intern for us!

Shayna & John getting ready to take their vows. Their friend Jane is officiating; they met her back in 2008 when Jane was an intern for us!

Here I am at a cocktail party the night before the wedding with Paul, Jane's husband. Who also happens to be Mark's sister's husband's sister's son. Married to a former intern of ours. Yes, a very small world indeed.

Here I am at a cocktail party the night before the wedding with Paul, Jane’s husband. Who also happens to be Mark’s sister’s husband’s sister’s son. Married to a former intern of ours. Yes, a very small world indeed.

And the wedding was as you’d expect from a great wedding. We had hired John Lee as a summer intern maybe 10 years ago and knew from the start that some day he would take over for us. And sure enough, that’s what he did when we left now going on three years ago. The wedding itself was beautiful but of course the big deal for us at least was a chance to reconnect with lots of great friends from the company. Unfortunately, most of the pictures just didn’t work – either too dark and blurry if we didn’t use a flash and too glaringly bright if we did. Again, trust me that flying from Africa was totally worth it for a chance to play with our old friends.

That was our lightening-quick visit back to the states: two days with Mark’s family in Virginia and four days with old friends in Boston, about as much winter as I need for any year. Then it was a long flight down to Mexico City where we spent the night before continuing on the next day to Puerto Escondito for a couple weeks on the beach.

Mark and his colorful coat on a beautiful winter day  in the Public Garden

Mark and his colorful coat on a beautiful winter day in the Public Garden

We didn’t take a single picture during that brief stay in Mexico City – a place we often love – but there were two things that really stood out for me. One was while we were in a shopping mall in the Zona Rosa near our hotel shopping for SIM cards for our iPhones. A perfectly ordinary urban shopping mall but you couldn’t help but noticing the blatant public displays of affection among young gay Mexicans. Lots of touching and hand-holding and kissing, and I don’t mean chaste little pecks on the cheek or European-style greeting kisses. These were full on … well, trust me. So much for conservative Catholic Mexico. Makes me start to feel a little old.

The other wasn’t quite so fun or interesting, just spending two-and-a-half hours on Skype with AT&T trying to get my phone unlocked so I can use those Mexican SIM cards (and later Guatemalan SIM cards and Argentinian SIM cards and so on). A week ago I requested that service and paid over $300 to get it done, money that we’ll quickly save as we quit paying outrageous AT&T monthly charges. In the meantime, though, I’m getting a huge runaround. Another 40 minutes on the phone today and still no progress. I suppose I can’t really complain, though, since now we’ve made it to the beach and, when I’m not on the phone with AT&T life here is pretty good. More on all that in a couple days.

You have to love Boston. Here we are in Boston Commons in front of the State House with the local atheists wishing us "Reason's Greetings." I bet they don't do that in front of the State House in Mississippi!

You have to love Boston. Here we are in Boston Commons in front of the State House with the local atheists wishing us “Reason’s Greetings.” I bet they don’t do that in front of the State House in Mississippi!

Our first evening in the Back Bay was cold and rainy and beautiful

Our first evening in the Back Bay was cold and rainy and beautiful

Another view of the State House, this time before the snow melted. I spent a lot of time in that building when I was doing policy work and always loved the golden dome. And yes, it's covered in real gold.

Another view of the State House, this time before the snow melted. I spent a lot of time in that building when I was doing policy work and always loved the golden dome. And yes, it’s covered in real gold.

Another view of the Public Garden

Another view of the Public Garden

Me and Mark enchanted with Boston's beauty

Me and Mark enchanted with Boston’s beauty

Back to Viena, our fellow Greek travelers Laura & Dan with their kids joined us for dinner. And then they're going to join us in Italy next sumer!

Back to Viena, our fellow Greek travelers Laura & Dan with their kids joined us for dinner. And then they’re going to join us in Italy next sumer!

And finally a whole bunch of El-Hindis and Sullivans

And finally a whole bunch of El-Hindis and Sullivans