Reconnecting

During my last week in Vallarta (for awhile), I have been fortunate enough to spend it in a suite overlooking the ocean.  Quite a change from living downtown in an overly hot apartment! Blessings to my Californian connection Jonathan for sharing his unused timeshare space with me; and for cheap!  

Being able to just chill for a few days, having said goodbye to most everybody and simply being able to think and watch the ocean from my window, was a nice way to end the journey that has lasted almost 7 months.  But somehow I feel like my journey is just beginning.

I met some nice ladies from California in this hotel/condo and we went for breakfast together at the Lindo Mar, a very pretty hotel up the road in Conchas Chinas.  The breakfast was amazing and so many choices.  I helped them all with the menus and with questions about what kind of food they might be getting if they ordered "divorced eggs".  Yes, that's a type of dish here, one side has salsa roja, the other has salsa verde.  I did all the talking to the wait staff and the ladies loved having someone who knew the ropes.  It felt nice being able to help and also teach them a bit more about the culture than they would normally learn just being a tourist.

I was surprised at how much I really liked helping them with the language, the money, the food, the people, etc.  I'm no expert, but I certainly know a LOT by now, and even I surprised myself.

From eating breakfast at the beach front gay bar/restaurant, I came to know one of the waiters who knows Juan, one of my waiter friends from work.   One day Alejandro invited me and a handful of his buddy waiters in his 4X4 Jeep to the jungle, after work to visit the waterfalls. We seemingly drove forever, (after picking up a carton of beer - 24 for 150 pesos ) up hills, into the country, through the jungle, through 4 river crossings, donkey trails, narrow roads up very high and FINALLY got to our destination:  Las Cascadas.  I don't know exactly the location, but I really thought for awhile that we would never get there.  At the end, we had to go through a barbed wire fence, one by one very carefully.

It was beautiful!  Waterfalls - rushing into a big pool, and then rushing again, into another pool. It was an hour til dusk when we arrived, but it was still hot out and the cool water was a nice reprieve.  We all jumped off the side of the cliff into the deep river and I got carried a little away over the rocks but one of the guys gave me a hand to get out.  Wow, the water is very powerful.  Another group of guys arrived 3/4 of the way through and for a minute I realized that I was the only female in a gathering of about 9 guys.  On the surface it looked crazy, traveling in a jeep over rocks and rivers with guys I hardly knew, drinking beer and listening to stories, in the middle of f---ng nowhere, where NO one knew where I was.  But I didn't dwell on it for long . . .  I totally trusted my one buddy who knew people I knew and mostly throughout the trip I was thinking to myself:  Cool, how many people get to be doing what I'm doing right now?

Sorry I don't have photos - Damn! You'll just have to believe me.

It didn't take long for the carton of beer to disappear and we needed to get back before dark.  The trip was more difficult crossing the bodies of rushing water and rocks from the opposite side, but Alejandro was feeling more confident now about his 4x4 experience.  He'd never taken it off road before.  I told him in Canada we buy 4X4's for a REASON, not just to look macho going over Vallarta's cobblestoned roads.  I really loved being in the jungle, breathing in the lushness of everything; the limes, avocados, hibiscus and enjoying the noisy music of the amazing birds.  We passed some very small and poor villages and dodged donkeys and dogs hanging around the roadside.  The rain, of course started to team down like it always does after sunset, making the roads more challenging than on the way up, when they were already challening enough.  All in all, a cool way to spend the early evening and i was back in my secure and air-conditioned suite with plenty of time to start on my packing.  It was great to connect with nature again.

The next evening, I had the opportunity to go swimming in a tidal pool that seemed like a natural jacuzzi.  My good friend Junior, who works on the dock is a marine biology afficionado as well as lifeguard, lover of the ocean, protector of tortoise eggs, and general wonderful person.  We met at the dock on day long ago,  and began chatting non-stop about everything. I re-connected with him last week when I finally had time and was in that part of the city.  We met one day after his work was finished and connected just as easily as before over a beer.  He is a very spiritual person and being able to talk with him reminded me that I have been feeling very disconnected to nature these past couple of months.  "Pues, conecta-te chica." he urged me and took off his special bracelet that came from his own indian tribe, took my hand and placed it around my wrist.  "This will remind you of what's important and help you when you need it," he told me.  "It's got good energy." I was touched to the point of almost tears.  I have been a bit weepy lately with the thought of yet another ending.  So this day, after our beer, we walked to the dock and watched all the local people fishing from the pier, he told me all the names of the fish that were lying there gasping for their last breath before becoming somebody's dinner.  Nobody needs a boat here to catch fish; they all seemed to be doing a great job tossing their homemade lines off the pier.    Down the beach we went and Junior led me to the swimming hole after taking me on a big walk across the beach, showing me the best views and also a grotto.  He entertained me with stories of how his father used to take him to this same pool and teach him all about marine life.   Junior also recounted stories of his time in the army.  He was in Chiapas during the uprising, had been shot several times and has the scars to prove it.  Also his retinas were burned while he was rescuing people from a fire; his eyes have one little white spot in them each. This small but gigantic-hearted man could have a book written about him.  I was inspired to write while talking to him, but when I brought it up, he said he didn't want to share his stories with the world, just with me.  Hmmm. still it would make an amazing book.

How many people get to sit in a warm ocean with life teaming around them, having true and amazing stories told to them?  And as if that wasn't enough, Junior sang me mexican ranchero songs, and quite well I might add.  He knows ALL the words!

As is the case every night, it started to rain heavily and we just soaked it out in the pool until it started getting dark and I was turning into a prune.  I was actually getting cold!  The walk back was disconcerting in the dark, I actually finally broke my 2-year-old $2 favourite Walmart flip-flops, on my second to last day.   Junior,  barefoot of course, (I don't think he owns shoes), led me step by step; till we finally got back onto the beach.  Everything changes when the darkness appears.   Things you once knew in daylight, take on a whole new ambience in darkness. Junior has lived in Vallarta since he was a small kid and he has a story for everything.  I'm convinced he could feel his way around the beach perfectly if he was blindfolded. I felt privileged that he would share this special place of his with me.  One more Mexican blessing.