Ruminations of an Expatriate

I mentioned in an earlier post that while in Cabo san Lucas I stayed at the hotel Mar de Cortez, named, for those who may not know, for the body of water which separates Baja California from the Mexican mainland.

Hugo is the bartender at the hotel, and quite an impressive fellow he is. The bar is owned by a very pleasant women, whose daughter and grand children own and operate the adjacent excellent restaurant, Spencer’s.

Having regularly visited the bar during happy hour, which runs from 11:00 to 6:00 each day, I was able to enjoy a number of conversations with Hugo. He is in his early thirties; speaks English very well; lives in San Jose del Cabo, the location of the international airport into which one flies when visiting Cabo san Lucas; is married; and has four children, daughters of 13, 8, and 5, and a son of three. Hugo’s wife works three hours a day, four days each week for an architectural/construction firm and sells Avon products. He indicated that his wife earns more money than does he; and told me, with a laugh, that he had tried to convince his wife that he should stay home to be a house husband but that his wife was not convinced.

One day while Hugo was telling me that he enjoys snorkeling, I remarked that, judging by the size of his arms and shoulders, he must also spend time at the gym. To which he responded that he plays professional baseball for the local Baja Sur team and coaches youth baseball teams. He indicated also that he had earlier played for three different teams of the 22 team Mexican professional league, of which the Yucatan Leones and the Mexico City team are the perennial favorites.

Hugo told me that he works at the bar everyday except Fridays, which he and his family spend camping on a remote beach not far from where they live. He reported that each Thursday his children excitedly prepare for the next day’s camping excursion by loading the camping gear in the family car. Thursday evening they depart for their camping spot, where they spend Friday playing soccer and baseball on the beach and where he spends time snorkeling to catch fish and shell fish which they cook on a camp stove on the beach.

He also told me that each year he returns with his family to his home town North on the Baja coast of the Mar de Cortez for a week of partying with his extended family. He spends much of the week snorkeling for sea snails, scallops, lobster, and other seafood which he packs into coolers for the trip home, and freezes. The seafood provides food for the family for four months.

The evening before I departed, as he was leaving for his one hour bus ride home, Hugo sought me out to bid farewell. He is one of those persons who renew one’s faith in humanity, and meeting him was one of those serendipitous travel experiences I will always remember.