Day 3, lots of walking

Waking up early is not for everyone, and typically not for me. Today however, I awoke around 6am with no alarm, and was on my feet. I do not know why, but I decided to roll with it. I packed a small bag and set off for the beach, which is called Playa Carrizalillo, and it is incredible. Walking there was not too hot because it was early enough in the day that I didn't really have the sun on me yet. I saw a couple stand out things like a cow's head in the back of a pick-up truck, freshly slaughtered that morning to bring to a butcher's shop in the mercado.

When I got to the beach I stood at the top of the large flight of descending stairs and took in the view. The beach is very secluded feeling, sort of having a point on each side which makes it just a small little cove. The stairs were painted beautifully, and they welcomed me down to the sand. After sitting for a bit and observing the proceeds for a bit, listening to the waves crash and roll, and watching people learn to push up from laying down on the sand, getting ready to surf for their first time, I decided I would see how much it was to rent a board. The boards were not too cheap and in fact I actually got a better deal in Hawaii of all places, but I wanted to give this beach a shot and it's not like I had a board to bring for myself.

The waves were very calm and beginner, which were very easy to learn on if you can catch them. Unfortunately, a lot of them were a little too calm and I spent a lot of time sitting and waiting on my board which is very peaceful but I couldn't help but feel a little impatient when I only had an hour and did not want to pay for another. I really only caught one good wave in my hour but it was still very rewarding and I definitely plan on returning, and maybe seeing if I can get a better deal for a rental. Sitting out, in the middle of the water, watching each wave swell, and trying to determine if you want to swim hard to try and stay in the right place as the wave starts to curl is a very unique experience. It is quite tiring, especially if you swim hard and the wave does not end up crashing and just swells, or you're a little too far back. But, it is such a great feeling when you feel the wave just take over and then all you have to do is stand up and ride it. Once I was standing, on my one good wave, I stepped back and forth on the board a little, to keep myself in the right place with the wave, not getting too far ahead of it, and not falling off behind it. Pure joy.

Returning to my place, I walked back and had un omelette con chorizo, which I have decided is not my favorite but to each their own. I arrived back in my room and had a siesta, sleeping for maybe an hour, before being ready to get back outside once the sun moved along a little further. It was still around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and I decided to sit around in the courtyard with my fellow renters, and talk for a good while. For this time, I mostly listened, and there is just so much interesting information to pick up from people with these life experiences I don't otherwise encounter. I was listening to the two German guys, one of who spoke better English than the other, tell me about Berlin and Germany in general. The man who spoke less English would say something in his strong German accent, and then look over to his friend and ask in German to his friend for the word or phrase he was trying to communicate. Even when he would not get help from his friend, we had a good time watching hand gestures and slow pronunciation, trying to get at what he was attempting to communicate, and a lot of times with a little effort we could get the gist of it.

One of the topics that came up after a little while and it was really interesting to listen to, was their views of government and news media and what is going on in the world. They all had fairly strong viewpoints that the government take lots of advantage of their people, and keep them in a cycle in many ways, where the government can profit off of them. While some of it seemed somewhat extreme to me, I could definitely acknowledge a lot of their points and see that from a young age, we really are not encouraged to think creatively and define our purposes in life. Instead, we are surrounded by commercials and advertisements promising a happier life if we have the newest car and the biggest house. Then we must work hard for these things, and if you continue to trade your time for money, you will be happy. In school we spend so much time being assigned work, and we complete it, getting in the habit of doing what someone tells us to and getting good at this. Each step of the way, there is something small to buy that we do not need but simply want, and we continue to spend all of our money, which does not allow us the free time to create more meaningful lifestyles for ourselves. This can be depressing or it can just be acknowledged and encouraging.

For me, it encourages me to seek out experience and find what is valuable to me, and it encourages me to be okay, not having the newest phone even if many of my friends do, or nicer clothes, or anything for that matter. It helps me question my purchases. I would like to continue to go outside, and find meaning in meeting people, and improving myself, and providing value to others, and finding things that bring a smile to my face. One of the German men said to me, this is my school, life. Going out, traveling and learning about other parts of the world, understanding how the world works and finding beauty in it, sharing with others and accepting from those who want to give. That is where you learn.

So, I got to sit, and reflect on all of this, before heading out for the night, and just appreciated all of the different perspective, taking what spoke to me from different people, and deciding my own thoughts, and taking my own action from there. Part of me wants to find some youngins to hang out with, and part of me wants to keep listening to these old heads. :)

The sun was starting to go down a bit finally, so I hopped on a colectivo, which is a pick-up truck, that you get in the back of like a taxi or a small bus, and they bring you down to the beach. It costs about 60 cents for the ride. There are no seatbelts and no tailgate, and cars would come up right to the bumper. I had the awareness that if I did not hold on tight, and we took off fast, I could likely get run over by a car. Despite this being the reality, it was very uncommon that this happened, and I found that truly beautiful. The way things are done here in Mexico and probably many parts of the world are done so differently than in the states, and it works. We are so stressed and careful about so many things in the world, and we cling on to life or avoid any injury at all costs. Down here, there seems to be more of a calm, and almost an acceptance of things going wrong, but a faith that they will not. The roads here also wouldn't even allow you to go fast enough to get hurt too badly, with giant speed bumps and many rocky roads (not the ice cream). I also talked to a few people in the tight space, speaking a little Spanish with a local, and also meeting two folks traveling, one from Australia, and the other from Argentina.

I arrived at the beach and walked down the long stretch of Zicatela, and watched the sun go down as I passed hundreds of people also watching the sunset, most of them sitting with others and enjoying their time. We live in a beautiful world. Being in a climate that does not require layers of clothes to prepare to go outside, makes it much easier for me to appreciate this at times, because I do not have to convince myself to go outside, I just want to.

I end up seeing one of the other renters at the beach and we end up hanging out from there, finding tacos de pastor for super cheap which were quite good, and then deciding to walk all the way back to the place. This town feels so safe, and walking through all of the streets at night, there really does not feel like there is much danger. I did have a 14-year-old boy offer me coke though. Stay safe out there. Toward the end of the walk home, my buddy who has been here in Puerto for a few months now, pointed out a burger place that he said I needed to try at some point, and I decided to have one right then, even though I had already eaten dinner, and it was the best food I have had for the whole trip. For just 40 pesos or about $2, I enjoyed a burger with a patty, cheese, avocado, onion, tomato, jalapeno, sauces and more, and the flavors were incredible. When I return, I plan on trying the especial, which was only 70 pesos, and additionally had a hotdog on it, ham, pineapple, and maybe a few other things. I will return.

In total, I ended up calculating it and I walked about 14 kilometers throughout the day, which is close to 9 miles, and I slept like a champ. However before, I slept, I arrived back at the house, and everyone wanted to go out dancing at about midnight, so we went back to Zicatela in a taxi, and found a bar with live music, which was very crowded so we mostly just enjoyed the band, and had a couple drinks. Arriving home late, I did not have energy to write about the day so I decided to save it for tomorrow, and here I am now, finishing up, so I can set off for tonight's adventure. The days here are incredible, and I cannot help but feel like I may not live in the states when I am older, at least for some amount of time. Thank you everyone. :)