Eight Egotistical Egoists Eagerly Echoing Egotistical Ecstacies

Playa Sayulita- 10,11,12 de Julio 2012 I had always heard very positive feedback from anyone who has ever visited playa Sayulita which is 40 km north of Puerto Vallarta on the pacific coast, in the estado of Nayarit. Early Tuesday morning Carli and I jumped in a cab that took us all the way across Guadalajara to the Central Nueva bus station where the most popular busline in Mexico; Primera Plus has its main station. The bus was surprisingly comfortable with reclining seats and plenty of leg room. From Central Nueva we traveled 4 hours northwest back through the tequila lands, rolling hills and expansive lava fields to the little town of La Penita de Jatamba 20 miles north of Sayulita. For security reasons the bus would not take us to the entrance of Sayulita since it wasn’t one of their designated stops, so we had to jump onto another more local bus that would take us the remaining 30 minutes. Upon entering Sayulita, I knew I was going to love the town. It was the quintessential Mexican pueblo with cobblestone roads that followed the gradual slope of the terrain and eventually faded into sand directly in front of a beautiful bay. Our hostel Casa Amistad was about a 3 minute walk from the beach. Luckily it was the slow season and we were the only guests besides Sofia, our new friend the Swedish caretaker. At this point we had been in Mexico for 8 days and had only eaten tacos and vegetarian food. My stomach was begging for a change up and begged me to stop at the first fresh fish tostada stand we approached. My god was I glad I listened to my stomachs urges for fresh pargo, ceviche de camaron, and full size camarones filled my plate. Besides the traditional hot sauces that accompany every table at every taco joint, there were a few new varieties of which we eagerly welcomed. Upon making my way down to the beach to round up a surf board, I met a cool local surf instructor named Juan and he gave me all the local knowledge. I had just missed the swell by a day unfortunately, but he was sure it would pick up again the following afternoon. The owner of the surf board rental and lesson hut came out and chatted with us. Her name was Patty o Patricia and her and her husband moved down here 16 years ago from Portland Oregon. Her husband spends the summers in the states as a Steelhead fly fishing guide, and then the rest of the year surfing and enjoy the warm waters and colorful vibes of Mexico, my kind of people! They raised two sons in Sayulita and found a Canadian expatriate tutor to teach them what the waves and streets could not. Both the sons are pro surfers for Mexican surf companies and were away competing in El Salvador, so I never got to meet them. For the next three days we lived the typical beach scene life; sun, surf, reading, food, cervezas, more sun, beach runs, more tasty tacos, a lot of small talk, and just mellowed out. I only surfed a total of 4 hours and much to my regret was forced to use a long board since the waves were just two small. There is no need to document every encounter of our mini beach vacation, but I will share two anecdotes that stood out. For our second night Sofia told Carli and I about a fun place with live music. After a few entertaining card games the three of us headed out to Don Patos which is a very narrow three story bar by the main plaza. It was very rustic and felt as though it would collapse from the live reggae that was blaring within. This is where Carli informed me that she “hates” reggae (I didn’t know that was possibility) so we made our exodus and headed straight for the Ocean. The night was calm, there was a thunderstorm in the distance, and the water was at least 84 degrees making the perfect formula for an evening swim! We ended up playing in the water for a full hour and never once cooled down since the water is so warm this time of the year. It was extra entertaining because in a think Swedish accent Sofia would yell our names “Kaylie” or “ Romney” in hopes we would be right next to her at all times given that she wasn’t the most natural water person I’ve encountered. This was Carli’s first tropical late night ocean swim, and seeing how excited she was made me smile but at the same time a wave of nostalgia came over me once I thought about the good old days in Costa Rica where a late night ocean swim was pretty standard. My My It has been a wonderful life!

During our last night we decided to just cruise around the town and of course “smash some tacos” which in addition to “sick” and “ching ching chingale” we say far too often. In a poorly lit little taco hut we recognized and Kiwi that we had met in Guadalajara. We went up and chatted to him and he introduced us to his buddy Miles whom was staying in the same hostel. We sat down and had a few Pacificos, and as the dialogue continued, it turns out Miles and I had much more in common than we would have guessed. We are both Oregon boys, surf, fluent in Spanish, studied at the University of Oregon, Studied abroad in Argentina, then found out we both studied abroad in the same city; Rosario. There were just too many coincidences and I had this funny feeling that there were more to come, so I looked over at Miles and asked who his host family was…”Marilyn Moran” the very same host mother I lived with. I was in total shock and had goose bumps covering my arms. What are the odds, a random little taco stand a tiny Mexican beach town…What the hell? Wild eh? Anyway after the initial shock faded out, we continued to talk and made plans to meet up in Guadalajara, which we did! The ride back to Guadalajara is only worth mentioning for how awful it was. Four hours of windy roads with two kids behind us both vomiting on their laps , the smell was so repulsive that I too almost lost it, but somehow mustered enough strength to hold it in. I would much rather be physically uncomfortable than to have to be forced to breath in a perpetual stank with the occasional whiff of parents attempts to mask it with cheap cologne!