MY SUMMER EXPERIMENT – LA CRUZ, AUGUST 2017

August 16 – 19, 2017

If you follow my blog, you may have noticed that I keep returning to the little village of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle in Nayarit, Mexico.  I like it a lot.  So much, in fact, that I fantasize about living there year- round.  The only thing standing in my way was – summer.  Everyone told me it was unbearably hot and humid.  Most people leave.  I was going to come last summer, but got waylaid by a sailing race to Hawaii.  This year, I decided to give it a try.

Agave Azul Welcomed Me Back

Thundery Day at the Pool

I arrived late on a sultry Wednesday afternoon and made my way by bus from the Puerto Vallarta airport to La Cruz.  The bus was hot, but no one seemed to be expiring.  I didn’t either.  I managed the walk from the highway to my room near the marina and even found fifty pesos along the way.  I figured La Cruz was buying me a margarita.

I had chosen the darkest, coolest room in the property and it came equipped with two fans.  I needed them.  I went out and bought some cold drinks and food for breakfast and then settled in to rest.  It started to rain just as I was thinking of going out for dinner, so I declared it too hot to eat and stayed in.  La Cruz was definitely quiet.  The only music I could hear was a drunken neighbor singing and the cantina across the street.  Fortunately, the fan drowned out those noises. It was fine.  I slept for nine hours, more than I had slept in weeks at home.

I had a mission for Thursday.  I had lost my glasses while white-water rafting the week before.  As that pair had cost me $1000 at home, I decided to replace them in Mexico.  Dr. Alma in Bucerias had been recommended to me by various people, so I got up in the morning and, after deciding I still wasn’t hungry, headed over there.  Dr. Alma is located in Bucerias on the water-side lateral between the big notary public and the intersection where the Santander Bank is.  Her office is set back a little from the street and can be hard to find, but it’s worth it.  I got the exact same glasses that I had lost for 3780 pesos or about $216.  They would be ready in a week.

While I was in Bucerias, I went to the bank, took a few photos for later painting, and then stopped in a café for a bagel and a smoothie.  Bucerias, swarming with Canadians in the winter, was deserted.  It was heavenly.  I strolled a bit, enjoying the lack of pushy vendors and then grabbed a bus back to La Cruz.  After stopping to make a dental appointment for the next day (I use Dr, Alex on the corner near the plaza,) it was time for a swim and an afternoon/evening of guitar practice and reading.  Once again, it started to rain at dinnertime, so I passed.  It stopped just in time to make it to the marina for movie night, where I got to spend a couple of air-conditioned hours and see some friends.

Bucerias in the Summer

I am not fond of the dentist and spent the first part of the day practicing the guitar and dreading my appointment.  Finally, it was time to go.  The dentist cleaned my teeth for 500 pesos (about $28.50) and sent me off with a prescription for medicated toothpaste.  I went straight to the pharmacy, but they were closed for siesta.  No one takes siesta during the winter, but most things are closed from 2 to 4 during the summer.  I went back to the pharmacy at 5:00, but the pharmacist was out and the clerk couldn’t dispense prescriptions.

The night before, at the movie, my friend Katrina had convinced me that 6;30 pm was the best time to run because there was a cool breeze.  She was right.  There was a breeze.  Still, it was all I could do to manage two level miles in the heat that my phone app said felt like 109 degrees.  After, I stood in the pool up to my chin until I cooled off.  Then I dressed and went back to the pharmacy (success, at last) and then crossed the street to eat dinner at the Octopus’ Garden.

On the way home, I decided that I needed an ice cream bar.  I went into the Kiosko and was baffled to find it so packed that I couldn’t even get close to the ice cream case.  People didn’t seem to be shopping, but just hanging out.  I gave up and went to the ice cream parlor down the street where the woman insisted that I looked French.  We finally agreed that it was because my grandfather was Belgian.  Later, I learned that everyone hangs out in the Kiosko because it is air-conditioned.

Saturday, I finally awoke on Mexican time and made myself a smoothie and some coffee.  Everyone else in the house was gone for the day, so I had the place to myself.  Before it got hot, I walked across town to say hello to my friends, Jen and Gregg, who live in La Cruz full-time.  We chatted and drank coffee until noon and then I headed home to practice the guitar until my fingers literally started to blister.  By 7:30, I roused myself to walk up to Enrique’s for dinner.  It started to sprinkle on the way back, so I didn’t stop to listen to the band playing in the park, but came home to write, instead.

August 20, 2017

Cheko Playing at Paninos

Cheko Ruiz, one of my favorite musicians ever, was supposed to be playing at a coffee house in Bucerias, so I got up early and dragged myself over there, even though I could tell I was starting to come down with a respiratory infection.  The show was supposed to start at 9:30 but, when I arrived shortly thereafter, there was no sign of Cheko.  I ordered coffee and breakfast and enjoyed the air conditioning and the over-solicitous waiters for an hour and was just about to leave when Cheko arrived.  By this time, I was starting to feel rather sick, but managed to listen for half an hour before I realized I would have to leave if I were going to make it to the grocery store.

I’m not sure what possessed Cheko to play there.  Usually, I pay 200 pesos to see him and here there wasn’t even a tip jar, although I suggested it on my way out.    Nobody was paying any attention except me and the waiters who were having a hard time not dancing.  We were inside in the cool air and Cheko was outside sweating in the sun, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.  Maybe he just had to play, whether people listened or not.

Deserted Bucerias

I managed to walk the three quarters of a mile or so to the Chedraui and get my grocery shopping done.  I ran into my friend, Lynn, from the Wings race crew and we chatted for a few minutes.  I was flagging by the time I left the store and the walk across the highway to the bus stop seemed endless.  When I got to La Cruz, I got off at the wrong stop and probably would have sat down and cried if a nice man hadn’t carried my groceries far out of his way.  I practically had to lie to him to keep him from coming all the way home with me.

Maybe I should have let him because, by the time I got home, it was all I could do to put the groceries away and collapse into my bed.  My chest was on fire and I was developing quite a fever.  The rest of the day passed in a delirium of waking and sleeping.

August 21 – 22, 2017

There is nothing like having a high fever in a hot and humid place.  I lay in front of the fan and wished to die.  Everything hurt.  I could neither eat nor drink more than a sip at a time.  I kept trying to drink liquids, reasoning that my pounding headache was probably the result of dehydration but, at my snail’s pace of drinking, everything became warm and nausea inducing before I got far.  I was weak and shaky and had run out of aspirin.  My voice was reduced to a tiny croak.  I slipped in and out of consciousness.

Fortunately, late on Tuesday, Ulla emailed me to ask if I needed anything.  I requested aspirin and chicken soup.  I got the aspirin.  With my throbbing headache somewhat tamed, I fell asleep and slept real sleep, not fitful dreaming.