Celebrating Christmas here has been a new experience for us, this being our first Christmas away from home.   RV’ers are a pretty ingenious bunch, and about the second week in December we started to notice trailers, and motorhomes being decorated for the festive season.   The following photos are representative of the type of decorating that was done.

Lights galore

Pointsettas,lights and bells.

Tripod Christmas tree

Lights and wreath.

Great creativity used in making this decoration.

On Christmas day, a group dinner was organized.   Everyone was asked to bring a favorite dish.   A fantastic dinner was had including salads, turkey, ham, potatoes, vegatables, and topped off with a giant cake made by a local lady in Lo de Marcos.   A good time was had by all.    

Christmas dinner held on terrace.

Socializing before supper.

Food table just as food started to arrive.

For Nicole and I Christmas is a time of giving.   We heard of a local Mexican family that was going through a difficult period.   In November the father had to have a kidney remove, and had been unable to work.   We prepared a food hamper, and bought gifts for their three children.   Delivering the gifts to their casa was a great experience.   The children excitedly unwrapped the gifts, while their mother had tears in her eyes.   We have since become friends with the Aguila family and invited them for a day at the beach with us.

Christmas gifts for the Aguila family.

Two families in front of Aguila house.

   

For those wondering why there have not been any recent stories posted on the website, I would like to explain that we have experienced technical problems with the wireless internet connection.   We have been unable to access the internet since December 25th, but seem to have resolved the problem.    Because of our location in the park, we are a considerable distance from the router.   To improve signal strength I connected an external wireless LAN  long range USB adapter, and it seems this caused a conflict with the wireless card in my laptop.    By shutting off the wireless card and using only the USB adapter we appear to be operational again.    I took my frustrating days of trail and error trying to resolve the problem, but alas I think we have it figured out.

I will start posting again shortly.

Jose lives alone in a small shack on the back side of the beach.   He rolls out bed each morning at the crack of dawn.   He quickly dresses in his usual pair of shorts and tank top, shivering in the 65 degree F temperature.   One step outside and he quickly returns to his shack, searching a jacket.   Without breakfast or coffee, he lights a cigarette, and begins to prepare to go empty the net he installed the day before.

Jose's shack on the beach.

Before long other local Mexican friends of Jose arrive by bicycle, truck, or walking.   He searches in the shack for his plastic gas can, that only has about two litres of gasoline in it.   Jose installs the gas can in his beached panga, “La Bonita.”    This is an old fibreglas boat about 12 feet long, equipped with an equally old Yamaha nine horsepower motor.   A friend tells him he will go out with him and help him clear the nets.   They manually turn the boat with the bow pointing out to sea and drag it across the sand to the water’s edge.  Today the waves are rolling in and they have to time their departure just right.   Jose tells me in Spanish that after the seventh big wave there will be a lull and he waits patiently counting the big rollers.    All of a sudden he shouts “,uno, dos, tres, vamonos”, and they push the boat into the surging tide.

Getting out over the first wave can be dangerous.

Jose checking his small catch.

Small ray caught in the nets.

Jose caught this hammerhead shark in his net.

When the fishing is good big fish can be caught.   Like the “Wahoo” in the first photo and the “Rooster Fish” in the second.

This Wahoo will provide several meals.

Jose tries to take this Rooster Fish into town.

One of the most colourful fish I have seen caught by Jose is called “Parrot Fish”.  

Called Parrot Fish because of beak like mouth.

These brave souls perform the same routine 365 days a year in order to provide for the people of Lo de Marcos.   It is rare that I have seen pesos change hands as Jose willing turns the most of his daily catch to townfolk waiting on the beach.   I haven’t yet determined if he operates an “on account” system for fish taken, or whether this is a variation of a bartering system.    In other words when Jose needs something he calls on those he has given fish to.

I intend to investigate further by continuing to hit the beach by 6.30AM, and by using participant observation, determine exactly how this fish for no money system works.

My sister-in-law Diane, her husband Maurice, Nicole and I  decided to take a trip into Puerto Vallarta.   The purpose of the day trip was two-fold.    We were in need of supplies, and secondly, we had not had a chance to visit the dowtown area.   We left Lo de Marcos just before 8.00AM (9.00AM in Puerto Vallarta) for the 60 kilometre voyage down the twisting, turning two-lane highway 200.   

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta shortly after 10.00AM.    Trying to find a parking space on the streets in the centre of town can be  an exercise in frustration, so we opted for an underground parking garage a couple of blocks north of the malecon.    The cost of 40 pesos for over 4 hours parking made this a very reasonable alternative.

Since this was the first time in Puerto Vallarta for Diane and Maurice, and being pressed for time, we only hit the high spots.   One cannot visit el centro ( downtown) without a walk along the malecon.   I was surprised that things hadn’t changed that much along the main street even though it has been over 20 years since I was there.   Favourite restaurants such as Carlos O’Brians and the Hard Rock Cafe were still in the same locations, however other businesses had changed.

View of main street looking southward.

As we strolled the malecon, I noted there were many new brass statues erected.    Here are some photos of the new statues.

I call this one The Lovers

Nicole with the "Mermaid & Snail".

This one I name Downng An Oyster.

Diane sitting with the Monsters of the Deep.

I called this one Climbing to the Stars.

The Saxaphone Player.

Neptune and his girlfriend.

This next statue was my favourite.   

Fiesta Dancers.

In addition to the statues along the malecon, there were magnificent sand sculptures on the beach.

Welcome to Puerto Vallarta.

Life size Mozart.

I call this one The Family Vacation.

After walking the malecon we visited a number of souvenir shops.   By this time hunger was taking over so we visited La Roma Cafe, located near the Rio Calle, where we had excellent thin crust pizza, beer and of course a shot of Tequila.   

The girls clowning with the waiter at La Roma.

 A stop at WalMart for supplies then we returned to the trailerpark by 3.30PM glad to be back to the tranquility of Lo de Marcos.

In a post on November 13th, I posted a story about the Cabellos de Lo de Marcos.   This story follows up on that subject.

While sitting on the beach yesterday I noticed two horses come out onto the beach, near the centre of town about one kilometre north of my location.   As the horses walked south towards me, I could see that they were being ridden.

Two horses walking south along the beach.

As the horses drew closer it became evident that the two Mexican riders were riding bareback. 

Horses being ridden bareback.

Beautiful horse may have Arabian in him?

Horses wading into the ocean.

Riders dismounted and swam next to their mounts.

Horses coming to shore after their bath.

It was clear by the demeanour of the horses that this was not the first time they had been in the ocean, and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy having a bath.   They headed back the way they had come, passing several swimmers coming out of the water.

Horses heading south passing swimmers.

A short distance down the beach there was a group of Mexican tourists seated in the shade.   They yelled something inaudible to the riders as they passed, and immediately the riders turned their horses bringing them to a half in front of the group.   A lady from the group was boosted up on one of the horses, and given a short ride much to the content of the cheering group.  After the horses headed back north and exited the beach at the same location they had entered.

Mexican tourist gets a ride.

As mentiond earlier my post of November 13th, I was interested in learning what the Mexicans did with the horses.   This story presents another piece in the puzzle.  

My brother-in-law, Maurice, and I paid a visit to Las Ayala, a neighbouring town that is roughly 20 kms north of Lo de Marcos.   This is a small village located on the south end of the Bahai de Jalemba.  The beach is roughly 1.2 kms long, and 30 metres wide.  Further north along the beach are the towns of Rincon Guaybitos, and La Penita. 

A map showing location of Las Ayala.

There are a number of  hotels in Las Ayala, the biggest being the Royal Decameron.     We wandered through a nice park near the Royal Decameron where wicker deer and slieghs were decorated with pointsettas.

Decorated reindeer in park at Las Ayala

Part of Las Ayala is built on the side of a mountain, the rest down close to the ocean.   The higher parts of town offer excellent views of the bay below.

View of bay from mountaintop location.

We continued up a steep incline to a restaurant on the top of the mountain that offered a different perspective of the beach.

View from restaurant of Las Ayala beach.

Anxious to check out the rest of the town, we descended the mountain, and walked to the beach area.   We found  this beach to be a lively, upbeat place primarily geared to entertain guests at the Royal Decameron.  There were excursion boats, party boats complete with blaring music, and dancers onboard, and we noted the beach was full of vendors selling umbrellas, inflatible aquatic toys, etc.

One of two party boats cruising on the bay.

One of the many vendors on the beach.

Some of the shops in Las Ayala.

On one of streets running parallel to the beach an apartment/hotel had sculptured shrubs along the sidewalk.

Sculptured shrubs made nice display.

We enjoyed our tour of Las Ayala so much that we went back with our wives this morning to show them some of points of interest.   As an aside, Maurice and I visited one beachfront trailer park in Las Ayala and we learned that sites fronting on the beach were renting for $1,200 US per month.   This particular park was all concrete, surrounded by a brick wall, with no trees for shade.   We found it difficult that people would pay this much for so little.   But I guess if being were action is important, then some people will pay anything to be there.   We gladly returned to the peace and solitude of the beach at Lo de Marcos.  

In my continuing quest to learn more about Mexican culture, and after seeing all the families at the Mexican Revolution fiesta, I was intrigued to determine what was the favourite pass-time of young boys in Lo de Marcos.    It didn’t take long to find out.

As mentioned in previous posts, the beach at Lo de Marcos is situated in a large bay.   The Pacific Ocean is relentless in sending wave after wave crashing on the shore.    The waves breaking on the shore are audible a good distance from the water.   Depending on tidal changes the waves vary in size, ranging anywhere from 2 to 4 feet high.

One afternoon we were sunning on the beach when we noticed a group of Mexican boys, in the 11-14 year old age group, strolling down the beach.    Each was carrying what we later learned were referred to as boogie boards, “lisadores cortos“, or “tablas de surf para ninos”.   It has been argued that the second Spanish translation is inaccurate, because adults can use them as well.  

For those unfamiliar with boogie boards or bodyboards as they are sometimes described, the average board consists of a small, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam. The board can be shaped and adapted to different riding styles, and size of rider.   The difference between a boogie board and a surf board is that the boogie board is generally ridden in the prone position, is flat bottomed with no external fins with which to turn sharply.

Anyway, enough of the technical jargon.   Here is a photo of what boogie boards look like.

Some of the boys posing with their boogie boards.

As the boys walked passed our location their excited chatter was drowned out by the pounding waves.  One pointed to a particularly large incoming wave and with that they all ran to the water’s edge and plunged headlong into the surf.    They yelled back and forth, and shouted with glee when they were able to catch a wave and ride up onto the beach. 

Sliding up onto the beach brought the biggest smiles.

As with any sport some boys were more proficient than others.   One boy could actually steer his board and turn sideways in the surf.

This boy could turn his board sideways.

The boys road the waves all afternoon, and became more daring as time went on.    One of the boys tried to stand up on his board, but wiped out.

Wipe out.

Regardless of the outcome of each ride these boys were having a ball.   No sooner would they be in on the beach, yelling and teasing one another, then they would turn and run back into the foaming water.  It became evident that they were not novices, as they patiently waited for the right wave.

Waiting for the right wave takes patience.

One of the smaller boys was actually able to stand up on his board for a few seconds.

Now this what I call fun.

I took many photos of the boys, and told them in my broken Spanish that I would give them copies of the best photos, if they came back tomorrow.   Luckily, I had brought my printer and was able to print off a number of 8″X10″ copies.

The following day, after school was out, the boys returned, and I gave them 12 copies of the best photos.  They excitedly examined each one, and teased the one boy who had wiped out.

Almost every day after that the boys showed up on the beach and exhibited the same enthusiasm they had shown on my first encounter with them.   One day, the waves were exceptionally high, causing one youngster to take a bad tumble.   He came up gasping for air and yelled to the others, “  Perdí mis cortocircuitos” ( I lost my shorts).  They all laughed.   The boy casually took off his T-shirt, stepped into it like you would a pair of shorts, tied a knot at waist level, and didn’t miss a turn. 

After watching these boys for several day now, it is clear that their favourite leisure activity is boogie boarding.  

Surf's up

After a hard day of surfing.

When the parade finished activities moved to the Town Square.   Hundreds of Mexican families, both young and old, intermingled with the tourists in attendance.    People stood, or sat if they could find a good vantage point, around the pagoda in the centre of the park.   The atmosphere was electric as everyone patiently waited for the performances to begin.    Mexican mothers beamed with pride as tourist snapped photos of their beautifully dressed children.  

Waiting for performances to start.

The excited chatter of the crowd was shattered by the sudden blaring of the sound system.   A master of ceremonies, speaking only Spanish, welcomed everyone to the celebration of the Revolucion de Mexico 1910, and stated the fiesta was in honour of Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata, leaders of the revolucion.    He then asked everyone to join in the singing of the Himno nacional mexicano.  

Crowd standing for National Anthem.

The M.C. then introduced the 2008 Fiesta princess, and the two runners-up.    Being the centre of attention in front of a crowd this size caused one of the runners-up who was too shy, to start crying, and she left her chair, running to her mother for comfort.

Fiesta princess minus one runner-up.

Here is runner-up in the arms of her mother.

Mercenaries & ladies performed dance routines.

The festivities took a humourous twist when the next group, dressed like old men, performed a comical routine.   They hobbled around as if they had bad backs, and pretended to hit each other with their canes.  At the end of the performance all the old men collapsed on the concrete.

The activities ended with a dance group of young men and women dressed in cowboy attire.  The did several traditional dances, but the highlight of their performance was the intricate footwork they did while dancing around quart beer bottles.

Beer bottle dance performed by this group.

Not to be outdone, some of the young children put on performances of their own after the official activites were finished.

Young boy imitating mercenaries.

Young girl dancing to the music.

At the end of festivities everyone lined up for traditional Mexican food that was for sale.   Nicole had shrimp , vegetable seviche and I had the fish seviche.   Both were excellent.  For those who may not be familiar, seviche is an appetizer made from raw seafood marinated in lime or lemon juice often with oil, onions,peppers, and seasoning.

We left the park about noon, but the Mexicans stay on, chatting and socializing.   Some of the younger children were given rides on the horses. 

Young child treated to a ride on horseback.

Others headed home riding in tandem.

Heading home tandem style.

We throughly enjoyed the Mexican Revolution celebrations.   Our Mexican friends, as usual, were warm, friendly and cordial, allowing the tourists to help them celebrate this important day in Mexican history.

We walked away feeling we had gained many new Mexican friends. 

Anxious to see how Lo de Marcos would celebrate, The Mexican Revolution of 1910, we left the trailer park at 8.30AM and walked through some back streets to the town square.    Our departure coincided with a parade 9.00AM start time we had been given by the park owner.   Upon arrival, everything appeared normal.   A few locals were seated on a short wall near the park entrance, and we spotted three tourists, sitting on white plastic chairs, hiding from the sun under a huge fig tree.    

I noticed that the main street, Calle Echeverria, normally a dust bowl, was wet as far as I could see.  I could only guess that it had been hosed down to try and keep the dust at least tolerable.   The problem being that any attempt to tame the dust here is futile, because everything dries up quickly in 90 degree temperatures. 

While searching out the most advantageous position to view the parade, I spotted a horse being driven down the main street.   This was the first indication of things to come.

This horse waited patiently as his owner went into store.

Before long we noticed tables being strategically placed in the town square.     Large amplifiers, microphone and DJ type equipment were quickly operational.   Mexican women quietly arrived in the park, and began preparing various foodstuffs, on the waiting tables.   Old men sat in the shade, joking with one another.

We located a spot in the shade on the west side of the street, one block north of the town square.  The parade was suppose to travel generally from north to south, ending at the entrance to the square.   Photographically, this posed a problem.    The position of the sun, at 9.00AM, was such that it was behind the parade participants.   Undaunted by this challenge, my trusty Canon A80, did a respectable job given the conditions.

Town Square entrance, wet street.

Police car leading the parade.

Following the police car, was a brass band.   Members of the band were high school age boys and girls.  Girls played the drums, while the boys handled the trumpets.   

Brass band lead off the parade.

As the parade reached our location we became aware of Mexican families passing on the sidewalk.   Some of their children were dressed for the occasion.

Young boy dressed for the celebration.

Next in the procession was an all girl gymnastics group.   They performed synchronized arm movements waving batons with Mexican red,white and green coloured streamers.

Colourful streamers made a nice display.

Not to be outdone the boys followed up with a precision bicycle team.   Their bikes were beautifully decorated and they performed several interesting routines.

Some of the boys bicycle precision team.

The next to arrive were a dance group of teenage girls, dressed in brightly coloured traditional costumes.  They entertained us by doing several coordinated group dances.    Their attire in the bright sunlight was striking.

Dance troupe performs traditional dances.

 

Behind the dancing girls was an all boy karate group, armed with homemade swords.  They completed several routines using the swords.   One boy broke his sword, and began laughing when the others in the group started heckling him.

Boy laughs about breaking his sword.

Following the karate group, was a group of elementary school aged children, dressed like revolutionaries. The boys were armed with rifles and wore bandolier.   The girls wore colourful dresses.

Boys dressed as freedom fighters.

The participants in the parade included all ages.    A pre-school princess was crowned and road in the back of a pickup, with the two runners-up.

Parade princess Odaliz Zayde.

There was also a decorated truck that carried the Queen of the parade, who represented the older generation.

Queen of the parade with two attendants.

Closing out the parade were a group of mounted Mexican cowboys.   They put on amazing displays of horsemanship.   Their beautiful steeds performed Dressage type moves, with dance steps, and one horse walked sideways back and forth across the street.   This had to be my favourite part of the parade, because it finally answered my question about what the Mexicans did with their horses.   These animals were more than mere horses.   They were superbly trained performers.

Mexican cowboy putting on a show.

This is the horse that was capable of side-stepping across the street.

Side-stepping horse had to be the best of show.

Following the parade, there was a short intermission then organized activities were performed by the parade participants in the town square.    I will create another post to cover these performances.   With over 170 photos taken it has been difficult to decide which photos to submit.

In conclusion, we all agreed that for a small community with limited resources, Lo de Marcos did themselves proud.  The parade was well organized, the particpants spanned all generations, the story of the Mexican revolution was well portrayed, the costumes were superb, and the atmosphere was delightful.   Viva Mexico.