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Mexico

santa maría del oro

By
June 5, 2013
Mexico, Santa Maria del Oro
1 Comment

a few years ago a group of families in sayulita started an annual camping trip out to santa maria del oro, a gorgeous crater lake about three hours drive north. this year we had the good fortune of being around for the gathering and had an amazing weekend away with our extended mexican tribe.

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we rode up in style with our friends jess and alyssa, who own a big van that they used to tour in (they are very talented musicians). even though the road was steep and windy, the van is so spacious and comfortable that everyone was in great spirits the whole way. you don’t get to say that very often about a long road trip with four adults and four kids!

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the campground we stayed at was big, clean and well maintained. they even had a pool and a playground!

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there were 35 of us in total, and about half of that number were kids. nayou did really well with them, despite hanging out with most of them for the first time.

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there was some face painting and silly games with cards.

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and a hilarious moustache party as well. seeing a gaggle of moustachioed kids running around screaming was like something out of a david lynch movie. i love how nayou looks like a jaded middle-aged hipster with his facial hair and super tired droopy eyes. so cute!

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nayou and his harem:

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my favourite part was paddle boarding on the lake. it was nice to be on water with no waves for a change! nayou and i went out for a paddle together twice. the second time around was to this small beach where we caught tons of small frogs (we released them before we left).

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nayou disappeared for long stretches of time with his buddies which was nice for both him and us. he did resurface for the bonfire we had on our last night. someone brought stuff to make s’mores, and nayou went crazy for them (who wouldn’t?).

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it was cool to connect with some people that we like but never had the chance to hang out with. sayulita has a very high concentration of cool parents, that is for sure!

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a nocturnal visitor of the venomous kind

By
May 21, 2013
Mexico, Sayulita
1 Comment

brenda found this little guy scuttling around inside our backdoor tonight. this is the third one since we moved into our place in early february. not sure if that is a lot or a little! they are a bit hard to spot, but are very easy to catch. we chuck them in the freezer and they go to sleep forever. apparently having chickens will scare away the scorpions but the mexican chickens are super early risers (read: 3am) so we may just be swapping one problem out for another.

nayoutube

By
May 21, 2013
Mexico, Sayulita
1 Comment

another example of the generation gap between nayou and most of us – youtube is his television. its awesome because there is endless variety, and he can watch it on any number of devices. and it sucks because its hard to tear yourself away from it, especially when its available on a multitude of screens. still, its cool that he can access videos that thoroughly review the different kinds of toys that he is interested in.

one of his favourites is a user called EvanTubeHD, who is this cool, cute kid who reviews all kinds of toys, mainly lego and angry birds (no wonder nayou loves him). nayou has been using his own digital camera to record tons of reviews, often echoing phrases that he has picked up from evan. this video was taken this afternoon to showcase a new model that nayou built:

and here is a sample of evan doing his thing:

visitors

By
May 7, 2013
Mexico, Sayulita
1 Comment

oh its been a rough week. four of my old old friends from seattle rolled into town ten days ago and we have been living it up ever since they touched down. we always put the invite out to everyone to come and visit where ever we are, but its not always easy because of our modern lifestyle. so its always exciting when the stars align and people actually make it happen!

there was a lot of this:

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and an amazing day on our friend darrin’s boat:

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now we are back to being our little family again. we’re still exploring the possibility of staying here over the summer while i also look for interesting film jobs. its the perfect time to pave the path for our next move as sayulita has entered the low season and everything is very quiet. and hot. thank goodness our house stays nice and cool otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do much during the day! its almost time to start taking siestas!

its the end of april already?!

By
April 22, 2013
Mexico, Sayulita
2 Comments

three months. thats how long we’ve been in sayulita already. the busy season is over and the whole town is taking on that tranquil, sleepy feel as summer approaches. its a nice change from the busy vibrance of the high season, although it is getting pretty darn hot. we have tentatively set our departure around the end of june, which is close to the time our visas here expire anyway. its weird to think we’ll only be here two more months – i feel like we could easily stay for much, much longer. we still have no idea what is next for us. i think its time to start putting out some feelers to see whats out there… we shall see!

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we have been busy with all sorts of small projects, but things are winding down. i’ve moved over to a lighter schedule with my yoga teaching, and this friday is the last farmer’s market for us. i’ve also been helping out people here and there with computer stuff in exchange for massages. still haven’t cashed in on any of my services yet, but i am so very much looking forward to being kneaded and pounded by some incredible body workers!

i landed a semi-regular yoga teaching gig at this incredible retreat center called haramara. it is a big honour for me to teach there because it attracts world class teachers that really inspire me. i was rather nervous for my first class, but once i got into the groove of it it was ok. and i guess they like me because i’ve been invited back several times now! the retreat is located just outside of sayulita in a big area of gorgeous jungle. the two yoga spaces are straight out of a magazine. the photos below hardly do it any justice, but if you are interested there are some more online here.

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somewhere in between everything we also started a semi-regular cultural gathering to promote community and raise awareness on a variety of issues. our friend nathalie has a gorgeous gallery space that she wanted to open up, so we organise the events and she gives us the space. so far we’ve only had one event where we screened the documentary “waste land“. it was a small turnout but really mellow and fun.

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i think the next one is going to be on wednesday. we’ll prob do another screening since its easy, but we have lots of ideas about other things we could do (yoga, art, slam poetry etc). if you happen to be passing through sayulita and you have something to share, get in touch and we’ll make it happen 😉

we’re still building lots of lego creations too:

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the humble pom-pom has been taking sayulita by storm lately, with all kinds of shapes and sizes popping up in storefronts, on bikes, bags and even in people’s hair! brenda has been making some great ones for the house and people are noticing. the other day a bunch of friends came over for a pom-pom party (potentially the world’s first ever pom-pom gathering?).

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the ladies got hooked up with some beanies that brenda made, and now those beanies have pom-poms on them. the beanie on the left is headed to nepal next month and should get some good use 🙂

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nayou has been into watching youtube videos lately. its amazing how much random stuff is out there – lego reviews, lego stop-motion movies, video game playthroughs. i always wondered who bothered to watch all that stuff, and now i know! one of nayou’s favourite channels is evantubehd. its run by a nine year old and is full of toy reviews and other random things that young boys would be into. sometimes he likes to bust out his digital camera and do his own little videos:

some more cuteness from brenda’s ipod:

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i finally got around to editing some video off our cameras as well. its a hodge podge of random clips but hopefully it will entertain you. enjoy 🙂

 

 

time flying by

By
April 8, 2013
Mexico, Sayulita
1 Comment

you would think that with our much less hectic life that i would have all the time in the world to take photos and blog, but its really the opposite. isn’t there a saying that if you want something done quickly, give it to the busiest person? personally i am loving the slower pace, not being in too much of a hurry to get things done. i do have to check myself from trying to stay busy all the time though. its all part of the decompression process!

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brenda’s old friend from seattle came down for a week with her husband. they were exactly the kind of guests we love – low key, up for anything, and self-sufficient. they stayed in a beautiful place with a pool, so we got some quality hang time in their neck of the woods!

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here is nayou demolishing some watermelon after a good swim in the pool.

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we are still very much into legos. right now its all about building various spaceships, training centers, cars, hideouts etc and then battling to see who wins (hint: its never brenda or myself).

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i love it when other kids come and play legos. its so cool to watch their individual building style. everyone always uses pieces in some fresh way that gets me all inspired too! here is nayou with kevin and jacob, two relatively new friends who are very chill. their mother takes care of a toddler across the street so hopefully we will be seeing lots more of them in the days to come.

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i love this shot brenda took. our friend sondra wants to take photos of her clothes on the line as a sort of diary, which i thought was a pretty cool idea.

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last friday at the market we cranked through ten liters (2.5 gallons) of green juice. this week we put some watercress into the mix and it made the juice really creamy. probably one of the best batches yet, in my humble opinion! its a good sign that we’re cranking more than ever, despite the fact that the busy season is coming to an end.

here is a little something i made for the three of us today. nayou is feeling a bit under the weather so there is lots of oranges, some ginger, wheatgrass, mint, celery, carrots, turmeric and parsley. it might sound weird but it tastes so good!

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the saga of our canine friend chappi had a happy finish today. ever since chappi came to live with us he has eventually wandered back to his old home. its about a fifteen minute walk across town from our place, so it was definitely a bit of a pain to go and get him every time. its not like he didn’t like it at our place – its just that when he went off on one of his adventures and it was time to go home, he just followed his first instinct and ended up at his original house.

chappi ran away about three days ago and this time we got a bit lazy and didn’t go and get him in a timely manner. brenda and i talked about it and decided to see if the owners would be willing to take him back if we provided the food. clearly chappi was comfortable there (he has a nice outdoor space and its peaceful), and he wasn’t causing any trouble.

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so we spoke with the lady who owns him this afternoon and she was actually happy to take him back! it turns out that chappi has been chasing away the neighbourhood dogs who have been coming in to chase their chickens, so they are cool with him being there again. which is a funny twist in the story considering they were originally going to get rid of him because he was the one chasing chickens. luckily for everyone he doesn’t do that anymore, so everything has worked out as it should 🙂

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see you around town, our little friend. it was great having you around! and we’re so glad that you get to be back where you feel most happy!

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fiesta mexicana

By
March 25, 2013
Mexico, Sayulita
3 Comments

the crowds are rolling into sayulita for semana santa, the two week spring break involving crazy amounts of people getting rowdy in the beach. it seems as if every person in mexico descends upon every inch of coastline available. our beach is no exception, and i do have memories of junst hunkering down the last time we were here during this time. you just have to wait for the storm to pass. brenda has managed to escape to san francisco for the week to help kiki out with the twins while nayou and i hold down the fort here.

we kicked off semana santa in style with an amazing birthday fiesta right on our street. jose, who lives directly across the road from us, turned three yesterday and there was a big party thrown for him. i have noticed that the mexicans do go to extremes when it comes to kids’ birthdays. but this one definitely took things to a whole new level. check this out – they commandeered the entire street! my favourite is the ballon archway at the entrance of our street.

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you can see the bouncy castle. that was a big hit – nayou spent about half an hour jumping like crazy in there!

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this is the birthday boy with one of the six pinatas that were brought out:

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have a look at some of the video 🙂

 

photo catchup

By
March 17, 2013
Mexico, Sayulita
3 Comments

there has been a slow burn of house-related activity in between my yoga teaching, our weekly stall at the market, and chilling at the beach. our favourite space to hang out is just outside the backdoor, where there is a palapa and a nice patio. brenda has put up a swing and made it a more festive place to be with cushions and tables and whatnot. here is nayou with his friend maximo (both obsessed with star wars).

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as i’m typing these very words, this is what is happening right behind me:

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we found an old plastic piggy bank in our backyard. so we spray painted it hot pink!

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oh, and guess who we saw on the beach? well, this was our second reunion but this time i remembered to take photos. rocky has a bit of a crazy look in his eyes because i had a stick in my hand. still as beautiful as ever, and packing some more meat on his bones too!

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nayou loves him some bouncy castle time. good thing there are plenty of them around town, including one in the plaza that pops up in the evening.

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little chappi is doing well with us. we took care of his fleas and his coat is all shiny and awesome. he’s a little more feisty with other dogs and people now but still so mellow in general. we had him snipped today so the por guy is comatose while the anaesthetic wears off. ouch!

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chappi’s story is that he belonged to this old couple in sayulita. they used to have him to catch chickens but then tied him up to a tree and fed him occasionally after the chickens were gone. so he wasn’t exactly neglected like some of the other dogs, but the owners were planning on dropping him off in the jungle somewhere because they didn’t want him anymore. so it was a good time to foster him.

he is super smart and likes to make sure our little tribe always stays together. old habits die hard though, and when he is off leash he runs away and eventually makes him way back to his old home. so we still keep him tied up when he’s at home which he doesn’t mind. we’re slowly going to wean him and see how he does. in the meantime, he is getting lots of walks as we take him everywhere with us.

these branches are nayou’s sunbrella.

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and some nice photos brenda took of things around our neighbourhood:

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i love this sign! so random.

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when its cloudy and windy with no waves, its time to fly the kite.

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… and do yoga on the beach.

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nayou came into the yoga room while i was doing my practice yesterday and followed along with me for a good ten minutes. it was so cool. i was trying so hard not to look at him but it was pretty much impossible. too cute! he’s got a pretty mean warrior a 🙂