Freshmen

As I have said before we are just one family who decided to move to Mexico from where we were before.  There are lots of people like us here though to many we seem unique or adventurous.  We decided to "just do it" and after that we learned and adapted the best we could in our new country.

We have been here 6 years so we have been here longer than some and not as long as many.  What is unique about this particular year is that the kids are at a new school, Costa Verde International School (CVIS).  We are a new family to the school yet we know most of the kids and families enrolled there and we have had 6 years of living in Sayulita experience.  Much more Mexico living experience than many of the first year families at school.

Through this blog, some fortunate chance meetings and introductions along the way we have met many "first year" families who arrived this year and also have their children in CVIS.  I kiddingly refer to them at "Freshman".  We are kind of like the 25 year old who has decided to go back to school for a second major in something totally different than the first time around.  We already know our way around campus, know many of the upper classmen and faculty and where things are.  We have a big head start on the Freshman and getting settled the first year can be overwhelming at times with new faces and new surroundings.

That said, it has been great to meet these new people and see their enthusiasm as many of them start their own adventure.  It's great to listen and learn from their experiences compared to our own and how they handled certain things and who they have met along the way.  We really like the people who we have met but everyone has their own timeline as far as how long they will be in Sayulita.  I've seen some come only for one school year and they are still here years later and have no intention of ever leaving Mexico.  I've also seen some folks arrive intending on staying permanently only to see them burn out, pack up and move on.  Sayulita is not for everybody and The Vortex is at work constantly.  Kind of a downer knowing that there is a chance many of the new people we enjoy hanging with now might be down the road by the beginning of the next school year when the new "Freshman" arrive.  Such is the way of things in Sayulita.

A New Casa in 2017 - December Update - A Big Bump In The Road

I wrote previously about the sewer work that has been going on in our pueblo.  This got a lot more real this last week as the sewer work relates to our building project.

Our builder, Leo, has been trying to get a sewer hook up for the house since last spring.  He visits the water office here in town and is told the same answer.  "No hook ups available".  I never realized that we never had the permits to hook up to the sewer line that runs down our street.  He only had permits to hook up to the water supply.  One of those many important details I missed when looking at the paper work and having discussions in Spanish.

Lots of exterior finishing going on

So, he suggested as the property owner to go in and speak with the office staff at the water department.  The answer was still the same.  "No".  Until the sewer line improvements are complete there will be no new sewer line hook ups.  See related post HERE.  Approvals for permits may come available in January or February or even later.  SHIT!!  We have a house that has water, electricity but we cannot go to the bathroom or take a shower for who really knows how long?

Well, just as I was leaving the water department wondering what the hell we were going to do when we moved in to the first floor of the house at the end of the month my phone "dings" letting me know I had an email.  It was our landlord.  SHIT!  Expecting only bad news.  The last I heard from him he was planning on coming down over the holidays and setting up some work to be done on the house we rent from him.  I got some good news in that email.  He let me know that he was going to be busy with business until the end of January and if we would like to stay in the house one more month we were welcome to do so.

With no windows, no doors, no stairs and no sewer connection we were happy to take him up on his offer and be sure we were in a good place until the end of January.  Whew.  We were all disappointed not to be moving into our new place but it was the best option considering all the things that still needed to be done.

Apartment built in bed

Trace's room subfloor

 Work on the apartment level continues and it has been primed.  The built in couches, bed and kitchen have bee, installed, cushions ordered and we still wait for the final concrete coat for the floor.  The upper level walls are finished and ready for paint and several of the rooms are receiving their 4cm thick concrete subfloors.

The front yard has been busy this week with lots of excavation and the beginnings of the garden, bodegas and the front spiral stairs.  Lots going outside but not much really on the inside.

Future bodega

Front garden and stairs taking shape

We are certainly thankful that the crew isn't taking an extended holiday as Christmas time approaches.  It isn't out of the ordinary for construction crews to be scarce for a couple weeks.  Not the case with our crew.  They will keep moving forward for the most part.

What to do about the sewer situation?  We have some solutions but will get into those in another post.  We have essentially 6 weeks to figure it out.

Feliz Navidad 2017

Where Are The Holiday Lights?

Up north there were all kinds of trees to put strings of lights on.  It was always a festive way to decorate your landscape and yard especially during the holidays.  Here in Sayulita we just don't see the same amount of lights as we would this time of year in Utah.  For the most part we have lots of palm trees to decorate but why don't we see more lights?

Well, now we know.

Sayulita Scenes - Overhead

A cool angle of centro, the main beach and Punta Sayulita at sunset.

Sewer Work Finally Begins!

It's no secret that Sayulita is and has been experiencing some severe growing pains.  The promotion of our small town by the Riviera Nayarit Tourism Agency, Sayulita's designation as a Pueblo Magico and the recent overall rise in popularity of the this area of Mexico has caused many issues.  Good solutions for traffic, parking, trash collection, construction regulation, utilities, local taxation etc have all been slow in coming.  Water and sewage treatment are at the top of the list.

With the increased number of visitors(the biggest increased % in Mexico), lodging construction and a boom in new home construction, Sayulita's outdated and functionally limited sewage treatment system was way over due for an upgrade.  What may have worked 10+ years ago or more could no longer handle the volume.  Add years of local corruption where money that should have been committed to maintaining and upgrading the system just disappears and the town has a big problem to correct.

One particular area of town has been the problem.  It is the lowest point in town and is the convergence of several sewer lines before there is a crossing of the river to the sewer plant.  A few things needed correcting and I am being very general not to go on at length.

The pipe in this area needed to be replaced.  Essentially it was not big enough to handle the increased flow of all of the lines coming into it.  As a result, during high flow times, the line would literally overflow and there would be raw sewage bubbling up from the manhole covers in the streets.  This "black water" would follow the the slope of the road and end up draining into the river where it would empty out into the ocean/beach nearby.  This line is being resized and appropriately sloped to help prevent future overflows.

Another problem was that the pipe that crossed the river was often damaged due to the river bed being used as a road during dryer months of the year.  Cars and trucks would literally just crush the existing pipe that was insufficiently buried sending black water out into the river until repaired.  A new pipe at a proper depth with protection from vehicles will be installed.

Lastly, the sewer plant needed to be repaired and upgraded so that capacity could be met sufficiently.  This is just the beginning.  The next phase is to send a "emissor pipe" that will transport treated effluent from the plant out to sea several miles where the natural process in the ocean can also help the treatment process.

This project was funded by public donations and memberships through Pro Sayulita and will go a long way to help Sayulita's image when it comes to it's biggest asset, it's water front.  It has been so discouraging to see tourists and locals alike tip toe through ankle high water bubbling up from manhole covers each year covering the streets in this area, draining down to the river and then to the ocean.  In recent years people have blamed this situation on getting sick in Sayulita.  Where I do think this is part of it and is easy to point at as the cause, I think there are other factors in play for people getting sick in town each busy season.  Anyway, this is certainly a HUGE step in the right direction and will go a long way to keeping the town a more enjoyable place to visit and safer for everyone.

Adios Mark and Brenda

Just over 5 years ago two strangers walked up to Ashley on the beach and knew her name.  They introduced themselves to her, said they had recognized our dog Dillon and had been reading our blog.  They had just begun their own adventure after packing up their lives in Michigan and moving to Sayulita.  We kiddingly called them the "stalkers" after that but Mark and Brenda have been our good friends since that day.

Since their arrival they have lived between Sayulita, Punta Mita and north of the border making friends anywhere they have landed.  They have lived the last few years on the beach in Punta Mita and going over there to surf would not have been the same if we did not get a wave from one of them from their condo balcony overlooking the surf break.

Trace, Brenda, Mark and Alex 2017 Stinky's Beach

Alex and Trace have known them since that first day they introduced themselves to us 5 years ago and they have seen our kids grow up in Mexico.  They are certainly two of the kids favorite people on the planet and it would be hard for them to think of Mexico without Mark and Brenda in it. They have even met up with Ashley on layovers in the States.

We are sad to report that Mark and Brenda are now on to new adventures.  Brenda is super mobile with her business and Mark is following his passions in the contracting world and cannot do that waiting for waves every day in Mexico.  We will miss them and hope they come back to visit often.  Best of luck on your next adventure!  Abrazos.

Brenda and Ashley in uniform

Mark and Alex

Mark and toothless Trace

Sayulita Gets It's First Bank!

Things progress slowly here sometimes.  Especially when it comes to local services.  Sayulita has seen a boom the last few years and Intercam Banco has decided to set up a branch office right here in town.  The very first bank to do so!  Fortunately, we just happen to have all our accounts with Intercam so this is a big convenience for us.  The branch basically has all the same services that their other branches in Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias have but it is walking distance for us and has a secure ATM as well.

The bank will do very well I think since the visitor to town will trust a brick and mortar operation more for currency exchanges and ATM withdraws.  The communities north and south of here will be a client base to draw from as well.  The "in town" location is easy to get to from the transportation routes that go around Sayulita so banking will be easy for those who need to drive to the location.

First a gas station and now a bank.  We are getting so "civilized" here in our small, but growing, pueblo.

Sayulita Scenes - Trace And His "Sayulita Bros"

Trace and his two best friends headed out for a surf trip down the coast a ways via panga yesterday morning.  The panga was captained by Felipe Rodriguez Lorenzo, aka "Pipe", who has been giving the boys SUP surfing instruction this fall.  Pipe finished in the top 10 at the ISA SUP World Championships in Fiji in 2016. Stoked to have another coach for the kids who is also a world class competitor and athlete.  I am going to have to tag along with these groms sometime soon and learn some new things.

Sayulita Scenes - Sunset From The North End

Yep.

Photo by Amy Daniels

The Sayulita JR SUP Team At The Pacific Paddle Games 2017 - Part 3

Part 3 of 3.  Read Part 2 HERE.

The last day of competition arrived and we woke up early to overcast skies.  It was actually pretty chilly as far as some of us were concerned though a nice break from the jungle heat and humidity.

Brrr.  Ozzy and Sonia, Habana's mom

The kids(and parents) were weary but were ready for their next challenge.  The "Long Distance" race.  The race would be 3 miles for the youth or so we thought.  The Pros and "Open" divisions would be paddling 6 miles so the kids had been training for that shorter distance at home.  Boards again were brought to the beach and the kids went off to attend the pre-race briefing.

Pre distance race

The race would be a staggered water start.  In other words, the race would start in the water and different divisions would start at different times.  The kids would be in the last group.  The important piece of information was that the kids would be racing 6 miles and not the original 3 miles they had trained for.  We are not sure why they changed this moments before the race but again, there were lots of kids looking around a bit shocked at the last moment new information.  Many of our kids decided not to paddle with or even bring water to race with since the race would be short.  We were now worried that they would get dehydrated going the extra distance.  The kids were just worried if they had the energy to complete the race.

Long Distance Race Map - 2 Laps

After the meeting the kids kind of stumbled around as they soaked in the announcement that they would go twice the distance that they thought they would.  Racers were called to the start line which would be along a jetty at one side of the venue.  There would be 400 racers out there waiting to begin the race

Trace and Ozzy contemplating the 6 mile effort coming up

With 400 paddlers all in the water it made the beach very quiet.  Once the kids paddled off to the starting area it quickly began to be impossible to follow them in such a crowd.  Once again, I failed to bring my binoculars so we were really only able to see the kids when they came close to the beach to make their first lap turn where we were looking for them cheering them on.

Can you pick out Trace and Alex?  We can't either.

Traffic Jam at the beginning of the "Open" division race

The Team had a pre-race strategy early on and stayed together for a while but broke off into smaller groups as the race developed.  Alex and Trace stayed close for most of the race.

Alex center with Trace just off her left shoulder.

During the second lap the wind and water chop began to get worse but the kids all pushed through and made it to the finish line.  The 6 mile race in a field of 400 paddlers was in the books.

Alex runs to the finish line.

Trace paddles to the beach

Just like that the kids had completed their competition.  Everyone got big hugs from family and coaches after making it to the beach and we listened to kid stories from their experiences in the water which was really fun too.  Our kids have never competed at an event of this scale and we think they handled it amazingly.

The rest of the last day we were able to watch all the Pros compete in the Technical Race Semi-finals and Finals.  The kids could finally switch off, kick back and just do kid's stuff.  Our group all sat together near the finish line and were able to see all the big name compete and come across the finish line.  There were awards giving to those who finished top three in their respective divisions.  During the awards the announcers and race director gave our program and coaches a big "Thank you" for making the effort to come from such distance to compete.  It felt good that we were noticed and I can tell you that we were most certainly heard during the weekend.  Let's just say people attending the race knew we were there and where we were from.

Our weekend was not quiet done yet.  We still had the challenge of getting from LAX back to Mexico.  Once we were on the plane, Ashley would be leaving us to head back Atlanta.  We left Dana Point super early to avoid LA traffic and had no idea if we would even make the flight in time.  Not only did we make it but we succeeded in getting on the flight flying "standby" and ended up sitting first class on the way home.  A great way to end a most awesome weekend!  

Alex, Trace and Coach Bicho on their devices in LAX

Was the travel, time and expense worth it?  Absolutely!  The kids and the families involved will talk about this one for a while.  We all want to return next year and do it all over again.  We want more kids to attend if possible so fundraising and applications for travel documents will begin early.  This first experience will help us plan for future trips to this event.  The coaches even mentioned a trip someday to the east coast USA to compete in a similar event to the Pacific Paddle Games.  For now, it is back to practice as usual and push to be better each week and welcome new paddlers to the program. Looking forward to the kid's first inter-team contest next month.

The Sayulita JR SUP Team At The Pacific Paddle Games 2017 - Part 2

This is Part 2 of 3.  Read Part 1 here.

We got up the next day, had breakfast at the hotel and headed out for practice #2.  It was obvious when the kids hit the water they were getting accustomed to their borrowed equipment for the competition.  The kids train on 11' SUP race boards here in Sayulita.  They were required to race on 12'6" boards for the competition.  Not an easy task to be on a totally different piece of equipment and then asked to compete.  Some of the kids were actually liking the new boards since they actually were a bit lighter and faster than their training SUPs.

SUP Parents at practice

By this time some of the competitors were beginning to show up and you could see the number of boards in the water start to grow.  There is a local SUP racing program, The Paddle Academy, that also had a team of kids the same age as our group.  With more kid aged competitors in the water and you could see them starting to look over their shoulders a bit checking on the competition.  To the kid's surprise there was a little bit of "smack" talking in the water as the local youth members of The Paddle Academy paddled in the waves along side our Team. "There is always that one kid" Trace likes to say and he is right. This took our kids a little off guard since they envisioned their American counterparts as comrades of sorts and not rivals.  They had never competed against anyone but their friends back in Mexico and did not expect this different kind of reception.  I grew up playing team sports and now surf so there is always a little of this so I guess I should not have surprised.

Coach Shelby with "Baby on Board"...get it?

Saturday arrived and the first day of competition was here.  The kids would be competing in what is called a "Technical" race.  This involves paddling around a course and making turns around inflatable buoys.  The kids would be competing in two different age groups so we would be able to see them race at different times.  We signed in early and the kids received their competitor numbers, racer jerseys, and a big bag full of swag.  It was like Christmas SUP style.  They were pretty stoked about that.

Shortly after sign in we got together and brought the boards to the beach.  On the way, we ran into the same group of local kids from The Paddle Academy who said a few words to our group in the water the previous day. Fortunately, our coaches and their coach are friends and this was the perfect time for the two groups to introduce themselves to each other.  After introductions and some laughs they did some warm ups  and stretching as a one large group.  This was absolutely great and one of my favorite moments of the weekend.  The kids should be making connections with kids just like them with a similar passion.  I know this meet up with The Paddle Academy made our kids more comfortable knowing that this group was just a bunch of kids just like them.  Several of them were at their first competition too and just as nervous as our kids.  Truth be told we would really like to host members of this group to come down and paddle with our Team here in Sayulita.  Their coach was already talking about the idea.  It would be super fun I think.

The Sayulita JR SUP Team meets The Paddle Academy kids.

The time came for all the kids to get their pre-race briefing and the kids went over to listen to the Race Director.  Fortunately the inter-squad competitions the kids raced in back in Sayulita were very similar to what they would experience here.  Our coaches are former pros so they set things up for the kid's race events in a similar format.

This was the time our team received their first bit of unsettling news.  Every competitor was required to race with a helmet on.  We all looked at each other saying "WTF"?  How come we did not know?  Did we miss something?  It became clear just by looking around that around 2/3 of the the kids and parents attending the pre-race meeting were saying the same thing we were.  The kids had to race on unfamiliar equipment and now would be wearing protective headgear that they had never used before.  The first heat was quickly outfitted with helmets and sent off and then next group begged, borrowed and stole any helmet they could find.  Fortunately, many kids who had come with helmets were willing to share.  We, and many others, were not happy about the unexpected requirement for the racers.  We could have come prepared had we known and it gave our kids one more thing to think about moments before their first competition.

No smiles before the race.  Game faces.

Alex would be up first and competing with her two teammates, Ava and Habana.  There were many 12-14 year old girls including a fierce team from Spain.

Alex getting ready.  Center of photo.

On the starting line.  Alex in white helmet to the right of the photo.

Trace was up next.  He was fitted with a red helmet that barely fit him and we didn't have time to even adjust it properly.  He was in the same group as one of his best friends, Kolbi.  A kid who was racing right next to him paddled with The Paddle Academy and was at his first competition.  He was so nervous he looked like he might throw up.  His parents introduced him to Trace since Trace looked pretty calm about the whole thing hoping it would help their son calm down a bit.

Trace in the center with red helmet starts strong with buddy, Kolbi, in the green helmet.

Trace in the red helmet

Trace was involved in one of the more exciting finishes of the youth division as he and another paddler got to the beach at the same time and raced up the sand to the finish line.  The other racer beat him by a few hundredths of a second.

Race a couple miles, paddle to the beach, jump off your board and still run to the finish line.

All the kids were smiling at the end of the morning and they were able to relax and enjoy some of the Pro races watching many of the athletes we met just two days before.  The Team was taking a group photo after their races were over and Candice Appleby recognized our group from the awards event and jumped in to join the shot.

Candice Appleby joins the photo.

The end of day one concluded with hamburgers in the park and adult beverages served secretly out of the RV Headquarters.  Everyone was happy, full and tired.  Another day of competition the next day.  Part 3 soon.