The Malecon

I'm sitting on a bronze bench that is shaped like an alien, facing the ocean.  I escaped my apartment to head down to the Malecon, the sea walk to catch the sunset.  It is just getting dark and the pirate ship has passed by with its big lighted mast.  The clouds are lovely tonight and the sunset was very fast, it seemed.  I am surrounded by throngs of people and I'm so wanting some peace and quiet.  It's not gonna happen in downtown Vallarta, so I have my laptop with my earphones and have created a very small bubble of space that is barely being respected.  All the mexicans are on vacation and to be honest, I've really had enough of them today.   I know it sounds awful, since this is their country, but I feel like this is my town and it's full of tourists.  I've got spoiled in slow season, Ha.  how silly.  It's just that it has been very very crowded everywhere I try to go. I don't do well in crowds. Crowds are EVERYwhere, there is no relief.  I made the mistake of going to Woolworth for a short trip to get some shampoo and ended up there for two hours and then 30 minutes in line with one cashier and about 70 people lined up.  I just about fell over when I was finally ready to pay for few items I had spent hours finding.  I wanted to walk out but I really needed shampoo and the two 7 dollar shirts I found.  For me shopping and looking at stuff  is a cultural experience.  But standing in line, is another cultural experience in Mexico and one I least enjoy.  I learned a lot about patience today.  I calmly observed people of all kinds, many women with infants slung casually against their chest, little tiny newborns and toddlers, pregnant women ready to deliver any moment holding 2 year olds and then there were young couples, old couples, every kind of people.  Nobody really complained, it was amazing to me.  They all just took it in as if it happens all the time.  Maybe it does.  If this was the States or yes, even places in Canada, you'd see irate people demanding service and raising a stink as if they were entitled to something.  Here, they just wait in line. I was blown away by it. But really, I've never seen such an immense lack of customer service since I was at the bank two weeks ago  Well, that's how it is here.

There is a cute girl standing staring at me, wanting to see what I'm up to.  She's staring at me and looking at my computer screen.  She's about 4 and sweet, but she's in my space.  As soon as I got on the Malacon, somebody whose name I don't remember called me and started asking me questions about how I am, all about my work, etc.  I looked at him and said, I just need some time alone and walked away.

I feel like I wasted my day off stuck in Woolworth, but there will be other days off.  I'm feeling frustrated that's all.  Now that I only have one week left at work, I feel like I am free again.   I actually feel a lot better.  But I just want to sit for a while and enjoy the ocean, and stay cool.  I need some nature.  The other day I saw a beautiful swallow sitting on the air conditioner of the building that I stare at every night at work.  He was singing his heart out.  I loved it.  They have 2 or 3 nests way up high in the corner of the building and all the babies have now flown away, having learned how to do that on busy Juarez street, dodging traffic.

I went to a movie last night with a buddy David Martinez, an hispanic american who moved to Vallarta from Colorado 8 years ago and currently is the manager of De Santos, a cool restaurant beside the Blue Shrimp.  He didn't even speak Spanish when he came here.  How odd huh?  We bonded on the street, both doing the same type of work.  He's about 50 something and has a very interesting life story.   It can get boring on the street, so we've had lots of time to chat. He wanted to see Batman so invited me to go.  We went to a very mexican taco/meat restaurant afterwards located at the north side of downtown.  We had the bbq'd ribs.  It was so hot and the television playing bad banda videos was excruciatingly loud, but I thought: wow. how lucky I am to be here experiencing this.  I would never have the chance otherwise if I was by myself.  We had a great conversation about spirituality and it was a challenge to focus with the loud music, but it was all part of the experience.

I'm still sitting in front of the ocean on the bench.  The little girl who was just trying to hug me is named Fernanda.  I asked her if her mom was nearby and yes, just over there with her brothers.  We talked movies and then i put my earplugs back in and she flew off.  Then she came back and I didn't have the heart to ignore her.  She's 5 and has 5 brothers and is the only and youngest girl.  We talked music and dance and then she wanted to listen to my earphones.  She asked me if I had a boyfriend and when I said no, she wanted to know why not.  HA!  What IS it with the Mexicans?  I told her it was more important to have girlfriends.  When her mom came to fetch her 15 minutes later, she very reluctantly and with great difficulty left.  So sweet.  My first conversation in spanish with a 5 year old!