Stories Without Photos

A sure sign we're falling into the pace of life in Mexico is clearly illustrated by the lack of quality photos on this post.  The iPhone usage is way down and I don't carry mine anywhere with me.  This is good and bad.  Good because it's helping me detox from obsessive email and texting habits, bad because I don't have it on me for photos.  You'll just have to take what say in this post at face value with little to back it up.

For anyone that thought we were coming down here to stay in five star accommodations, think again.  The town we're in is fairly small and has a very local feel to it especially with it being the green season or rainy season.  Not many folks are here from out of town and the ones  that are here are primarily surfers who stay for a week then head back to the states.  There is no access to a cash machine or a huge commercial style grocery store in Troncones.  There is however a small market where we can get the basics.  The twenty minute drive to access these things really isn't easy since we haven't secured a rental car yet and have had to hitch a ride with our property manager when we can.  He's been awesome and without his help we would have really faced some tough challenges.  Once we have the rental car kink worked out ,we should be in good shape.

The place we're staying in is a nice two bedroom condo on the 3rd floor of a building near the center of town.   We have a beautiful view of the ocean and the surrounding area plus the temps that hover in the mid 90's are dramatically reduced by the sea breezes.  The style of living is an outdoor palapa with the bedrooms being air conditioned.  The outdoor style requires one of us to wake up and start sweeping up bugs and bat guano from the night before out of the kitchen and living area.  This has become a part of the routine for the last week and I imagine it will continue until November when we plan on heading to Central  America.  Cooking also has it's challenges since the kitchen is really only equipped with the basics.

The view:

 

There are two quick stories that illustrate what Troncones is really all about.  The first is our dining out experience at Chencho's.  This is a local place recommended by Russell our uber helpful property manager (who has really been more of a guide for us).  We walked the quarter mile in stifling heat to approach a large tin roof covering a very modest dining area with a open air kitchen in the back.  We were immediately approached by the friendly cook / waitress Angelica who is Chencho's wife.  Our kids were clearly moody because of the heat and unfamiliar surroundings which left them whiney.  Angelica took our order and headed back to the kitchen to begin preparations.  By the time she returned with what would be the best whole fried Red Snapper I've ever had, her daughter Yamalette was chatting up Jordan.  Angelica could see that our kids were being challenging, so she took them, along with her own kids, to the back of the house/restaurant to check out the chickens.  Leaving us to dine in relative solitude.  When was the last time someone took your kids out back to check out chickens at a house, let alone a restaurant you're eating at?  This was a pretty defining moment in the first week here.  The people are not only friendly, but they're willing to extend their hospitality on levels that many would never consider in the US.

Story number two has me walking the boys early Saturday morning to get some fresh fish from the local fish market.   The fish market is a beat up, rusted out Toyota pickup truck from 1993.  A local fisher sets up there every morning M-SA until 9A selling the mornings catch.  When I approached him he was standing over two healthy size blue fin tunas that had to have been roughly 25 lbs each.  I inquired what he had for sale and it turned out the tuna was the best of what he had that morning.   I agreed to purchase a kilo for $140 pesos or roughly $12 dollars US.  This fish would easily command $30 a LB in LA with it being sashimi quality.  His expertise with a knife was fairly evident as he carved four huge chunks from the whole fish, removed the skin and gutted it on a wooden stump in the back of his mobile fish market.  His wife then stepped in and filleted the 2 plus pounds of fish into grillable delights.   The people here are pretty hard workers and most have a specific skill set that has produced a tight knit community.

We found out just how tight knit this place is when Yamalette came back with us from dinner at Chencho's to play with Jordan.  I was speaking with Chencho after dinner and with my Spanish sucking pretty bad I apparently agreed to let her come back and play.  I didn't figure this out until she was heading down the road with us and had to ask Jordan for a quick interpretation of what just transpired in the short conversation I had with Chencho.  She's been by the last few days to swim with us and play in the skate park next door that has a semi dilapidated jungle gym where the kids play using Gatorade bottles as super soakers while mixing rocks up in other bottles to entertain themselves.  The locals don't have a lot here, but they are rich in many ways that go way beyond owning material items. 

Good surf on the way the next 8 days.  Next blog dedicated to the surf and our new friends we've met in the water.....

Happy Father's Day!

Slater having hilado with the locals: