December 15, 2007 - The Unbelievably Bearable Lightness of Being in Puerto Escondido


Well, it's Saturday, and here I am, six days after I arrived in Puerto Escondido, and still at Hostal Shalom. This place will be hard to leave. The morning after I arrived, I was sitting at a patio table outside Habitación 5 when Evan and Jamie arrived. (They are the guys I met at Hostal K3 in Acapulco.) They are also in Habitación 5, along with Adrian, from Ireland. I am the only female in a room with four males. It's cool; I feel like a den mother.

When I first arrived, a guy, whose name I don't know, passed by and said, "I see you everywhere." When I asked where he had seen me, he answered, "Mexico City." Mel, a woman from Australia whom I had met in Mexico City on a tour of Teotihuacán, was here briefly. That's something I love about hostelling: I keep crossing paths with people I've met in other hostels. I will probably keep meeting people I've met before in other places. With the right people and the right hostel, it feels like a family. Hostal Shalom is like that. There's a sign that reads: "Welcome Home." Right beside it is another sign that reads: "Checkout time 11:00."

There was a group of Canadians, Suzi, Adam, Shane and Daniel, from Edmonton who drove all the way down here in an old Corsica, picking up their Mexican friend, Yaudi, along the way, in Mexico City. These Canadians have a wonderful story: When they arrived in Puerto Escondido they went to a hamburger joint called Zombie's, down the block on the Rinconada. It's owned by a young skateboard aficionado who makes great hamburgers. Their car was probably not going to make it much further, so they made a trade with the hamburger guy: all the hamburgers they want, any time, in exchange for the car. When they told him it probably wouldn't be running much longer, he said it was okay - when it broke down, he would park it in front of his restaurant and "pay local skateboarders to grind on the bumpers." This story will give you an idea of the spirit of Puerto Escondido.

Another group of young people traveling together are from France and Peru. Some of them are on a world tour. They are on their Latin American portion now, and most of them be traveling all the way to Argentina (with a little puppy, named Teo). They will visit all the Latin American countries on this part of their trip. They left on Thursday, but happy memories remain. Bon voyage, Lara, Baud, Minas and Christian.

There are many Canadian and USA expatriates here. They all seem to be very relaxed and happy. And who wouldn't be here? Everything is so inexpensive. It's so hot, I don't have a big appetite. Una salada de frutas purchased from a vendor on the beach for 20 pesos is sufficient for most of the day. In the evening, I eat at one of the lovely little restaurants down the block. My favourite is Los Tugas, one of the restaurants along the Rinconada on Benito Juarez, the street where the hostel is located. The businesses and restaurants on this street have parking areas in front, but the owners of Las Tugas have chosen to turn their space into a little garden with tables and chairs. Since it's almost Christmas, they have decorated a tree in the centre of the garden with ornaments, lights and bows. Their food is great, and the portions are ample. it's a classy place; but where else besides Puerto Escondido (and, I imagine, other places like it) could a guy without a shirt be served – as Daniel (from Edmonton) was the other night – in such a restaurant? No problema. I only wish life were as laid back at home as it is here. Puerto Escondido is definitely on my list of places to come back to next year.

This is not to say that there's nothing wrong here. Puerto Escondido has been "discovered" by developers catering to well-off people who can afford to buy property here. The architecture is beautiful, but very fancy. Almost every one has a rooftop patio with a thatched roof. They are quite lovely; but most of the Mexicans here, despite being hard working, could never afford to live in one of them. I find the disparity unsettling.

As I was sitting at the patio table outside habitacion 5, I thought I heard the sound of a lawnmower, which struck me as unusual here. (The only "lawnmowers" I've seen here are the horses that are pastured in a vacant lot on the way to the beach.) A truck passed by, and I heard the lawnmower sound above the truck's engine. As I looked out to the road, less than 3 metres away, I saw that the truck had a spraying apparatus mounted on the back and was spraying a cloud of something directly on the trees and shrubs along the side of the hostel. Immediately I thought of the conversation I overheard a couple of days earlier at the convenience store. Two women were talking about the sinus problems many people are experiencing here, saying that it might be connected to the spraying that is being done to combat dengue fever, which is said to be a problem here. I fled inside the room and grabbed the first article of clothing I could find, my nightgown, and covered my face with it. Whether that was helpful or not, I do not know; but the attitude of "authorities" who authorized spraying in a populated area, with no warning to people might come into direct contact with the chemicals being used, I found shocking. It's as though they are saying, "We've decided to protect you from dengue fever, but in order to do that we might cause you to have other health problems." So far, I've been exposed only once (that I know of); but people who actually live here seem to be experiencing side-effects.

By the way, the cold that has plagued my trip for a month is finally gone. A few days on the beach have helped a lot. Hostal Shalom is just a short walk down the dirt road to the Playa Carrizalillo, which is accessed by a long stairway (167 steps) inlaid with stones, mostly quartz. The beach is small, with a rather intimate feeling. It is surrounded on three sides by a bluff, and the sea is a beautiful blue-green. Looking back from the water to the sandy beach, with the blue sky reflecting on the surface of the water, I had the feeling of being in a brightly coloured, living, Mexican postcard.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be off to Oaxaca City. I'll visit Puerto Escondido and Hostal Shalom on my return trip.

feral@renegaderesearch.org