Travel Log 17: February 28, 2010 - Life in Teacapan, Sinaloa

 

The RV park was buzzing with the news first thing that morning and there was a lot of standing around wondering what to do. Not me! On hearing the word "tsunami" I was back at the trailer packing bags and throwing them out the door to load in the truck. Computers, food, water, passports. All the while keeping one eye on CNN and the other eye on the ocean in our front yard. Adrian was significantly less excited. He strolled into the trailer and prepared to shower. "SHOWER!!", I shriek! "The tsunami is due to hit our area between 9:00 and 11:00 -- it's quarter to 9:00 and you're going to SHOWER!" He said "it may be a few days before my next one!"

 

Suffice to say all ended well. No effects felt in our area whatsoever. We spent the next few hours in Escuinapa which is inland and north of us. We had lunch at our favourite place (Hector's) and did a few errands. Not a bad way to weather a tsunami warning.

 

Most people from the park also evacuated in their vehicles to town for most of the day. The few that stayed behind admitted later that they had the jitters. South of Puerto Vallarta, Boca Beach RV Park was evacuated. This is near where we stayed last winter. Boca Beach had experienced some tsunami effects several years before with flooding and an RV being carried away several hundred meters and deposited in a swamp. All reports from up and down our part of the Mexican coast indicate that most people elected to evacuate just to be safe. After all, what's the downside of "going for a drive" until the threat is over.

 

We were the first out of the park, and were told later that a mass exodus occurred on our heels. There was a couple staying here (I emphasize was) who happened to be in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami. They were in the midst of it and survived by scrambling from the shore to higher ground. With this current threat, they only needed to hear the "ts" in tsunami and they were packed up, hitched up and a dust cloud was all they left as evidence of their stay here.

 

This event and the great end to the Olympics have fuelled many enthusiastic conversations around the park in the last few days.  The win of the final Canadian men's hockey game even resulted in an impromptu drunken walking parade around the park by some, including singing of the anthem and flag waving. We are mostly Canadians here in the park with a few Americans who didn't say much later in the day! 

 

This is the first travel log of 2010. It seems a long time since I've written, but we actually haven't done much. We arrived here in Teacapan on December 20^th, and have been living in this rural Mexican locale for over two months now. We are due to leave very soon and start heading north. 

 

We have done very little except try to find a rhythm in the Mexican way of life and venture out on the odd excursion for shopping or dining out. 

 

As I am writing this, I realize that I may be repeating some aspects of various emails to some of you here and there. If so, bear with me.

 

We are far away from the influence of large-scale tourism here. English is not readily spoken. Most shop keepers and even the owners of the RV park have very limited English. Our Spanish is sketchy, so in light of trying to assimilate into culture I have been giving myself a Spanish lesson every morning. I spend 15 minutes working through a book which I used in my "Spanish Made Simple" class at Okanagan College several years ago. 

 

I find the language a bit tricky, in that one word's meaning changes completely with the slightest roll of an "rrrr", and so many words sound alike. When we arrived here at the park on December 20, I used my limited "Espanola" to try to explain our rig to the owners. 

 

What I wanted to say was: "Tenemos uno remolque y camione" (we have a trailer and truck)

 

This brought a glazed look of confusion from the Spanish park owners. I was confused myself, because I was certain I had pronounced everything perfectly.

 

What I actually said was: "Tenemos uno remolque y camerone" (we have a trailer and shrimp!) 

 

Back to "Spanish Made Simple" for more vocab!

 

Bailey is socializing well with the other pets and we are happy to note that she is always the best-behaved in the group.  As I've written before, she totally loves the beach. When we're walking down the path to the beach, she excitedly strains on the end of her leash, hopping like a jack rabbit. She's really starting to show her age (14 in July). She sleeps a lot and so soundly. Usually a change in our voice or a movement would bring her head popping up from the edge of her basket. Now her snores drown out anything we are doing and we have to nudge her awake. 

 

Adrian and I are both really enjoying staying in one place.  This is a vast change from last year when we ran around Mexico like crazy people.   

 

 

Shopping in a work-a-day Mexican pueblo is definitely entertaining. We manage to get most of what we need from this little fishing village, with a trip into Escuinapa about every two weeks. 

 

The fruit and vegetable market is a busy little store. The family who owns the store is very proud that they bring in fresh produce every day. There is a brother who speaks English who is there periodically. The sister sits behind the counter and is polite enough that when she totals the cost of my order, she says the numbers slowly so that I can catch it. There are few cash registers here. Usually shop keepers just tally the amount on a little hand held calculator and either show you or tell you the cost. 

 

The thing that freaks me out is that there are flies everywhere and on everything. When I get all the veggies home they are washed in sanitizer and put in fresh bags for storage. I tend to avoid fruits and vegetables that cannot be peeled just to add to the safety.

 

One day I was at the lime bin standing right next to an elderly Mexican grandpa. A fresh shipment had been dumped into the bin and he and I were each leaning in, vying for the best limes. He sometimes glanced at me with a look that I could only interpret as "what is a white woman doing in my lime bin?" I just smiled, shrugged my shoulders and kept digging. It was a funny moment to realize how strange it is to find myself in a dusty fishing village, the name of which we never heard until last year, up to my elbows in limes. 

 

 

 

Something I find so curious is how everyone is dressed. Other than the workers in the fields who are attired raggedly, people are "dressed" here.  We have noticed this as we have travelled as well. It doesn't matter which dusty street you look down in any two-chicken town, the women are absolutely immaculate. They are wearing jeans with sparkle-bling on them, cute shoes, nice tops. They always match. The school-age girls wear their little uniforms with plaid skirts and pristinely white knee socks and black shoes. Their socks are so clean you would never know that they walk back and forth to school on a dirt road.

 

The women always have their hair "done" somehow and flashy earrings. They really couldn't do more with themselves to look nice than they are doing.  Even the very overweight women have somehow found nice clothes that fit them. If you dropped them in any mall in Canada they would look as though they belong. The curious part for me is how they emerge so put together from a one-room, rusty-gated brick house with no electricity. This is a mystery to me.

 

 We do notice as we shop in the local stores that a lot of shelf room is dedicated to household cleaning and personal care products. Their soaps and shampoos seem a bit coarse and strongly perfumed, but there is definitely a variety to choose from. I suppose even though their surroundings are humble, there is great pride in appearance, which speaks to and displays the class structure here.

 

We notice that teenage boys are very often wearing the latest style of jeans and even label items, like Nike shirts and caps. While we were driving to town one day, I noticed a Mexican man standing near the road at the edge of a field. He was surveying the field as though he owned it - maybe he did. He was wearing jeans and a belt with a clean white cowboy shirt. He had a white cowboy hat and to complete the outfit, he wore a bright turquoise bandana around his neck. Very dapper for a walk among the peppers!

 

Seriously, these people are dressed better than we are. In the urban centers, one expects people to be nicely presented. These observations of ours seem to be pronounced because of where we are -- a remote fishing and agricultural area which is so obviously not overly prosperous. 

 

Strangely enough, we've been told that there is a thriving gay community in this village. I did venture into one small clothing shop in town, the keeper of which was a fellow in his 20's. His t-shirt and jeans were fine, but the give-away was his immaculate make up and women's heels. He put his hand on his hip (the way the movie stars do on the red carpet) and looked me up and down. He then started fishing through the racks and extracting clothes for me to view in exactly my right size!   

 

 

Most of the RVers in this park are established here for the season (4 months or so), but there is an element that come and go and use this park as a stopping place for a few days or a week. We are located a good hour from the Main Mex 200 highway so it's not often that people come in just for a night.

 

More so than last year, we've noticed a significant number of people travelling in small units: trucks and campers, small conversion vans; tent trailers, and even car and tent only. We also have noticed many European travelers who have brought their funny-looking little motor homes from overseas and are travelling North America.

 

It's interesting to talk to these people to get a feeling of what is happening economically in Europe and elsewhere. We met Richard and Martina who live in France, but he works in Germany for Bosch making engine motors for various auto lines. She has been unemployed for five years. She lost her job in the finance department of a cosmetic company and hasn't been able to find anything since. She said the jobs which are offered are part time for poor pay and require a long commute.  She would only end up working for the gas money to get there and back.  Richard's work was being downsized and the company opted to have all employees take a forced 3-month leave for no pay rather than completely lay off their workers. So this couple decided to take the time and do some travelling. Her comment was that they should still have some money leftover when they get home. Their logic was if it would cost them to live and eat at home, why not try to do it for the same money and travel at the same time. 

 

Another couple we met were travelling by car and living in a tent. They were from Oregon and had "bugged out". He was a jack-of-all-trades former military guy and she was a physical therapist fed up with the health care system. They had sold all possessions and cashed in their 401Ks to travel to Guadalajara and teach English as a Second Language. They would be teaching business people and adult education. Even with little teaching experience the Mexican agency that was hiring them promised work anywhere in Mexico.

 

For the people who are here for the season some of them doing nothing, but the longer we stay, we unearth some quiet talent. There are two painters here, one quite famous, Darlene Zimmerman, who has a studio on Vancouver Island. Another is a jewelry maker who cuts and polishes rare and interesting stones and then sets them to silver. There's a professional photographer who worked in the 70's shooting fashion models for magazines like JC Penny's and Sears. 

 

 

I know I've mentioned the great beach, but it really bears a repeat. The beach here is magic. Miles and miles each way. The sight of sand and ocean eventually just dissolves into mist with only a speck or two of other RVers out for their walk. Dolphins swim by several times a week. Last week we were treated to a dozen of them swimming in the surf, just 50 feet offshore. Amazing!

 

 

The weather has been nearly perfect here. High 20's with moderate humidity. There is always a breeze from the ocean which makes sitting at the beach extremely comfortable.

 

We did have a sizeable storm two weeks ago. We had rain all day and then late in the evening the torrential downpour started. One RV neighbour put a glass jar outside in the evening and in the morning there was roughly 4 inches of water in it. Of course this storm knocked the power out in the park for about two hours. The wind switched at one point and we had some entertaining times with our awning. Because the power was out and our battery was starting to run low, we didn't have enough juice to wind the electric awning in, and it cannot be done manually. 

 

All in our park escaped serious damage. One RV had its awning brace torn away from the side of the rig. Another RVer had his satellite dish on a tripod beside his rig and he found it the next morning down the beach.    It was an interesting experience when the power went out as the night and the storm are not far away when one is inside an RV. The rain fell so hard and the wind howled so loud it completely drowned out the sound of the ocean.

 

When the power went out I was just putting the finishing touches on a spaghetti dinner. So we ate by candlelight with our fingers crossed that we wouldn't blow away. By the morning the rain had stopped and we all ventured outside of our rigs to start setting things up to dry

 

This storm hit both Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta quite hard. In Bucerias where we stayed last year, the nearby resort of Royal DeCameron (this is for you mom because you stayed there) had damage on their beach front structures. Elsewhere trees were uprooted and power lines knocked down. 

 

We're fortunate that, being so exposed to the ocean here, the park didn't sustain more than minor damage. 

 

So, that's the extent of the excitement over the past months. A tropical storm, a tsunami warning and the Olympics.   It's been interesting!