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.