Mexico: Doing nothing can be a lot of work

By BEN OLSON/for The Herald  —  In my youth, I paid good money to see and hear the loudest rock bands in history. They were not as loud as the mariachi band that is presently playing outside our apartment. A drummer, an accordion, an acoustic guitar, a tuba and a vocalist are playing traditional Mexican tunes for a family gathering. They are a block away and all our windows are closed, yet the music is vibrating the window panes. There will be no sleep until they play “Happy Trails” and call it a night. I am mystified as to how they can amplify a tuba to create that much noise.

They are quite good at what they do, though.

I’m not complaining. It has been eerily quiet here every night once the  boom boxes are shut off. That has happened by 10 p.m. all the other nights. We’re in a mixed neighborhood, four blocks from the town square. There are locals living here, and many gringos occupying vacation rentals.

The streets are narrow, often steep, and traffic moves in a way you’ve never seen it move in the Estados Unidos. Two way streets that are only one lane wide are negotiated by a mix of trucks, cabs, small cars, golf carts, ATVs and lots of motorcycles and scooters. At times it lurches along, though sometimes it’s almost like a ballet. Unlike other places I’ve been with this kind of congestion, there is no honking or displays of bad temper.

I’m in Sayulita, in the state of Nayarit. I visited here 20 years ago while staying in Puerto Vallarta, a half hour south. It was a quiet little surfing village then, with a colorful bunch of American and European hippies hanging out and enjoying a laid-back lifestyle. The hippies and surfers are still here, but everyone else in search of what can’t be found in south Florida is now here, as well.  According to Wikipedia, Sayulita has 2300 residents, but it feels like 23,000.

I would not be exaggerating to say that there are 500 places to eat and drink within walking distance. Street tacos can be had for a U.S. dollar and a cold cerveza can be bought for under $2. A fine fish dinner of locally caught Mahi can be found for less than $10.

Of course you can spend a lot more, if that’s what you choose.

As I grew up in a tourist town, I generally try to steer clear of places that are this “touristy”, but I’m having a wonderful time. My wife and I have taken a couple of road trips further up the coast. The next beach town to the north is San Pancho, about a 15 minute cab ride. It, too, caters to tourists and has a bustle to it. Ten more miles up the road is Lo de Marcos. It seems more like a quiet Mexican town situated on a picture-postcard beach.

We spent the afternoon there today, doing field research. The beach bar where we stopped for refreshment had an interesting mix of customers. It was split about evenly with Canadians who winter there and Mexican citizens enjoying a Saturday at the beach.

Dogs are ubiquitous. Unlike my dog, or any other dog that I’ve known, though, they’re not begging. They may pass by your open-air restaurant table, but they don’t stare at you with big sad eyes. Most dogs have collars, are fixed, appear to be well fed and are not tethered to an owner, just wandering on their own. They seem to all get along with each other as well. Pet cats were a little less common but seemed to be quite comfortable out on the streets.

Try and spend your Yankee dollars and businesses will clip you pretty good on the exchange rate. Cash in your dollars and get about 18 pesos for each one. You may feel rich having a thousand peso bill in your wallet, but it’s worth about $55. All the Mexican paper money is colorful, to say the least, and each denomination is unique in size. Because a peso is only worth about 5 and a half U. S. cents, you don’t receive any change in smaller denominations.

The band finally quit around one in the morning. Then the karaoke started, with several grade school aged boys singing Mexican pop songs.

Thankfully, it was not as loud as the band. 

It is not easy for me to do nothing, which was the point of this vacation. I have a suspicion that I could actually do nothing better from the comfort of my home. Two 2 ½ hour flights and an hour van ride from the airport took me to another world for just a little while. It will be good to get back to Oakridge with some photos and memories. See you soon.