Ruminations of an Expatriate

Looking South in Puerto Escondido ones sees the harbor and, beyond, the Pacific Ocean.  Looking North there are mountains.  It is all quite scenic.

I had reported on March First of my excursion to the top of a luxury hotel to shoot photos of the harbor and town. While there I also took photos of the construction of an addition to the hotel and, particularly, of the use of bricks as form work for construction of the arched window openings.

You can see that a board is placed horizontally at the bottom of the arch and supported by a post. Bricks are then stacked on the board in an arch shape to act as a form for the concrete.

The photos below is of the existing hotel showing the finished arched windows and a couple of fellows installing exterior electrical fixtures.

I think these are Jacaranda trees, which are blooming all through the areas of Oaxaca I visited.

The pelicans of Puerto Escondido are not the least bit shy. These guys were hanging around the morning, beach front fish market.

The palapas in Oaxaca utilize a different type of palm frond for the roof covering than is used in the palapas in Veracruz and the Yucatan, which use the long fronds from the Royal Palm. You may remember this discussion of palapas I posted about a year ago.Oaxaca palapas use smaller, fan shaped fronds, from which type of palm I don’t know. As you may see in the photo the upper most leaves of the frond are tied around the poles laid horizontally across the rafters.

Eighty kilometers, or so, East of Puerto Escondido resides the small town and harbor of Puerto Ángel. The morning I left Puerto Escondido I took an early bus to Pocutla and from there a taxi to Puerto Ángel.

The hour and a half bus ride was on the SUR line; and for the entire trip the driver played techno music, of which I have no understanding and, thus, no appreciation.

Except for two relatively small sandy beaches the harbor there is surrounded by craggy rock hills, upon which are perched houses. There is a concrete pier at the innermost point of the harbor that was used for the exportation of coffee grown in the area before the construction of the coastal highway in the area.

Like Puerto Escondido, the main occupation is fishing, and each day the fishers head out early and return about 8:00 to vend their catch on the beach.

The beach front palapa restaurants, tucked amongst palm trees, are adjuncts to private homes and offer a variety of fresh sea food. While sitting at one such restaurant, owned by Julio and his family, enjoying coffee with a shot of mezcal, the family, at least three generations, was on the patio behind having their morning meal. It was quite homey.

It really is a very picturesque, very tranquil little place, though I prefer the wider harbor and lush vegetation of Puerto Escondido.

Lupe, at right,  and Nancy are two of the housekeepers at the Mayflower Hotel in Puerto Escondido.  Each day they would show up early, change into their flowered dresses, and take care of business, often singing and always smiling.

During the week I stayed at the Mayflower, a combination hotel/hostel, there were groups of Japanese, Dutch, British, New Zealand, and Australian fellows, as well as a group of six Swedish young women staying in the dormitories.

There is common kitchen in which folks would congregate in the evenings to prepare dinner and carry on.  It was entertaining.

Each afternoon about 2:00 Lupe, Nancy and their two compañeras would occupy the kitchen for an afternoon meal.

Bougainvilleas are omnipresent in Mexico.  Here are a few shots of different colored bougainvilleas I encountered within about a block and a half during a walk around Puerto Escondido.

I ran across these large trees while exploring the non-tourist areas of Puerto Escondido.

A walkway, perhaps a mile in length, has been built along the rock which lines the Northwest Puerto Escondido harbor. The walkway is accessed from the western end of la Playa Prinicpal.

This is the Puerto Escondido beach where families hang out, as the relatively calm sea, the gently sloping beach, and the shallow water is perfect for young frolickers.

The town fishing fleet is anchored just beyond the inner harbor swimming area or parked on the beach. I watched a couple of boats beached by the pilot who accelerated approaching the beach and drove this boat up the beach to dry sand. The boats are the heavy, fiberglass hulled boats one encounters in every coastal Mexican town.

Each morning at about 8:00 the town fishermen are parked on the beach selling their catch from their boats to the gathered crowd of buyers.

Below at left is the view from my hotel room balcony.

Here’s a few shots of the waves which attract surfers to Puerto Escondido.

I will have my pictures of my Puerto Escondido trip developed tomorrow and will begin posting them soon.

I think I’d mentioned that I ended up staying at the Mayflower, just a couple blocks from the bus station, around which there are many hotels, cabanas, and such. The Mayflower is a combination hotel/hostel, thus there are lots of young folks staying in the dormitories, including lots of crazy young fellows. I opted for the hotel side of the operation and paid $230 pesos per night for a private room, two double beds, and a small terrace from which I had a nice view of the sea and where I could work on a tan (today’s exchange rate $10.69 pesos to $1 USA).

Though I did no serious research, the lowest room price I saw written on a wall, or otherwise advertised, was $150 pesos, including hot water and TV. The TV at the Mayflower picked up four stations, but WiFi is available throughout the place.

I think I mentioned the fellow from B. C. and the fellow from Seattle, who once owned land within 10 miles of where I spent my last thirty plus of my pre-expatriate years, who were staying there. There was another very interesting fellow also staying there.

Lee has spent his thirty eight years in the Kentucky/Ohio area. He speaks with a light drawl; and has worked as an automatic transmission mechanic and builder, apparently of some renown, beginning as a child helping in his father’s shop. His skills afforded him and his family a comfortable life. He claims to have been paid in “six figures” to do what ever he did with automatic transmissions, which included building customs transmissions for high performance cars. The shop in which he has worked provided minor sponsorships to NASCAR teams.

A year or so ago Lee’s wife and only two children were killed in an auto accident, three months later his mother died. Soon he was drinking to excess, gaining weight; and became increasingly despondent, even considering suicide, he reports.

About five weeks ago Lee walked into work; announced that he was leaving for a while; flew to Puerto Escondido; and took a room at the Mayflower, where he has become quite a fixture, even dating one of the housekeepers. I never did ask him why he chose Puerto Escondido. The day before I left, Lee reported that he had rented a home in town and that he is considering relocating permanently.

Lee told me, while eating toasted squash seeds, that at 38 his life has been turned upside down, he is happy in Puerto Escondido, and that he’s going to make the most of the opportunities. He indicated he is considering relocating there.

Meanwhile, yesterday I took the bus from Puerto Escondido to Pocutla, about a hour and a half East, and a taxi from there to Puerto Ángel to take a look at the place. Later, I return to Pchutla for the bus to Oaxaca.

Both the Puerto Ángel bay and town are much smaller than Puerto Escondido. The bay is surrounded by rocky hills, against which the waves crash, except for two fairly small, sandy beaches. There is a very small Mexican Naval Base there, and a pier at at the foot of the bay that seems very much over sized for the small harbor. The pier provides a favorable fishing spot where I watched a young fellow, with a treble hook set up on a hand line, snag and land three fish in three casts.

The beach front restaurants carry even more of that flavorful, funk factor than do those in Puerto Escondido, many simply palapa extensions from the proprietor’s home. It is really is quite a charming little fishing village; but no match for Puerto Escondido, flanked almost entirely by wide beaches and with lush vegetation backing the beaches.

Puerto Escondido

Other things I like about Puerto Escondido are that it’s very clean, it’s very relaxed, the folks are friendly, and it is a very beautiful place.

Revisiting the above post some hours later I realize, though the title refers to thoughts in the plural, I left but one. So here’s another.

Plumb and Level

I realized today why plumb and level costruction is so important in USA construction, and why in Mexico it’s generally not so important.

USA construction typically uses factory made, perfectly squared materials, plywood, sheetrock, and OSB for example. To facilitate the application of the factory squared panels the frame must be square and plumb.

Here in Mexico, buildings don’t generally use the factory squared products, but are constructed of cocrete; masonary; mortar; and finished in stucco, which hides almost any imperfection. Concrete and/or mortar can more readily account for plumb and/or level imperfections.

Mezcal

There is lots of Mezcal produced in Oaxaca, and one sees lots of fields of Maguey plants, even high mounttain patches, and roadside distilleries, touting their finest, all along the bus routes through Oaxaca. The Maguey is a variety of the Agave genus, which the reprobates amongst my five readers (which I suspect is in the strong majority) will recognize is the plant from which Tequila is rendered.

I asked a fellow at a beach-side Puerto Escondido restaurant, where I sat for an hour drinking margaritas and watching the comings and goings, as to the difference between the Maguey and Agave. He told me they are the same plant and that the difference in flavor between Oaxacan Mezcal and the Tequila of Jalisco derives from the different environments in which they are grown. Though I appreciated his answer, being a skeptic, I remained unconvinced. I did a Yahoo search and found the following excerpt at this site:

They both derive from varieties of the agave plant. Tequila is made from only one species of agave, the agave tequilana Weber (blue variety). Mezcal, on the other hand, can be made from five (!) different varieties of agave. The production processes also vary, tequila being distilled twice and mezcal being distilled only once.

So it’s the differences in the variety of Agave plant and and the distilling process differentiate Tequila and Mezcal. I know from my distilled spirits research (which resulted in the construction of a valved reflux still from which I produced moonshine) that Tequila and Mezcal are distilled using “Pot Stills”, which is just what you probably will imagine. A large, usually, copper kettle, in which the fermented “mash” is heated to the ethanol boiling point; a vapor-tight kettle cover from which emerges tubing of increasingly small diameter, often including a variety of differently shaped copper structures between the kettle and cover which provide a bit of reflux action; the tubing is then configured as a condenser, often a copper coil immersed in a container through which water continuously flows, causing the ethanol vapors to condense in the tube, from which the product is collected. Distilling twice, as with Tequila, removes more of the non-ethanol chemicals; and, thus produces a purer product. But with pureness comes a reduction in flavors.

Perhaps you also know that to truly be called Tequila, it must to have been produced from 100% Blue Agave. Both Mezcal and Tequila are made from the juicy, pulpy base of the Agave plant, which resembles a large pineapple and from which the succulent leaves grow. I was told that the plants mature in seven to ten years. When mature the leaves are cleaved from the pineapple with machetes; the pineapple is removed, trimmed, heated for a time; pulped, fermented, and distilled; and that which will become the more expensive stuff is placed in barrels, which impart colors and flavors that intensify over time. The four year old Mezcal is quite dark and very flavorful. The clear stuff may have been produced last week.

I was told by the fellow at La Casa de Mezcal in Oaxaca that worms are placed in Mezcal bottles as a marketing gimmick which apparently works in the gringo market, and that Mexican do not include worms in their blends. The only place I’ve seen Mezcal with worms is in tourist areas.

OK. I’m reaady to pass judgement. Puerto Escondido is the best beach town I’ve visted.

For your reference I can report I’ve visted a number of Dalmatian and USA beach towns, a number of North Yucatan beach towns, Cabo, Cancun, Ixtapa, Playa Baracoa Cuba and probably others I’ve forgotten.

I had breakfast yesterday morning with Dennis, from B.C., and Nicholas, from Seattle, at one of the cafes along street fronting the beach.

I asked the waiter for his opinion as to the best place from which to take photos of the area. Without hesitation he pointed to the luxury hotel looming on the hill above, and answered from the hotel’s roof top bar.

I returned to my room to change into my walking shoes, and headed for the hotel.

Upon arrival I explained to the desk attendant my desire to visit the roof top bar for a beer or two and to take photos of the town. Being a bit early for the bar, and she being not certain of the propriety of my request, made a call to check.

Soon a genial fellow arrived to size up the situation and, I think, me.. I explained my desire and he responded “adelante senor, es en segundo piso”.

I climbed the stairs to the bar, with chairs still upended on the tables, and encountered two pleasant women who had already been informed of my purposes. I downed a Bohemia and a Leon, two of my favorite dark beers, and shot some panoramic photos of the beautiful setting.

The long, sandy, crescent beach, is lined landward by low rise hotels, many with a flavorful funk factor, and scenic restaurant palapas, all respectfully set back from the periodic caprice of the sea.. Each end of the beach is flanked by natural rock barriers which protect the small harbor. The sea at the base of the harbor is relatively calm, and the adjacent beach is a family affair. While the sea breaks along the side of the harbor in large, crashing, tubular waves popular with surfers. It’s all, like, very tubular, man.

It is indeed scenic here. This an authentic beach town where Mexicans vacation. The town feels very relaxed, the tourist area is well kept and clean, and there are no high-rise, beach front hotels. I like it here a lot.

Having fulfilled my photo mission I headed off in search of some beach sandals, as the sandals I brought had rubbed raw a spot on the top and one toe of each foot within the first fifteen minutes of wear.

More later.

I arrived in Puerto Escondido this evening about 8:00 and checked into the Mayflower hotel, a short walk from the bus station and right on the edge of the tourist district. A fact mitigated by it’s 230 peso per night rate.

I haven’t explored much yet; but, so far, it seems like a nice place. I will, of course, report in more detail upon my return home and when I have had my photos developed.

I can report, though, there is a fellow staying here from Vancouver, B.C., not far from where I lived most of my life in Washington state.

And to top that fact, there is another fellow staying here who lives in Seattle, works under contract for Microsoft, and until recently lived in Olympia, WA, the city of my birth.

Even more amazing, he used to own land in Matlock, a few miles from where I spent the last 30 years preceeding my expatriation

The encounter brings to mind my 2000 Dalmatia trip during which I ran into 7 gringos, five of whom were from WA state, 3 from Olympia.

Please keep in mind I am posting with my phone, and exercise understanding patience with editorial problems.

I left Xalapa this morning at 11:00 for Veracruz, having bought bus tickets yessterday from Xalapa to Veracruz and from Veracruz to Oaxaca, where I arrived about 9:00 tonight.

I had decided to not buy a ticket from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido, in case the bus from Veracruz was late. A wise choice as it turned out. The result, however is a night in Oxaca.

As it has turned out I encountered a lovely hotel, with only about ten rooms, just a few blocks from the bus station.

I am posting this from my hotel room using my phone. I will take some photos of the hotel in the morning and post them later.

This morning at about 6:45 I noticed the door to my apartment rattling and felt the building shaking. I went out into the building passageway and asked a neighbor I encountered there if she had noticed the building shaking and she responded that she had not.

I have just read and AFP news service report that “A strong earthquake measuring 6.4 magnitude struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said.”

The USGS reports the epicenter as 23 NW of Arriaga, Chiapas at 6:50 AM local time.

This site displays a map and provides a means to report if you felt the temblor.

Speaking of earthquakes, I lived for most of my life near coastal Washington State. Just off shore is a subduction zone where the San Juan tectonic plate is forced beneath the North American plate. The friction generated by the grinding of the plates builds great force which is occasionally relieved through greater than normal movement of the San Juan plate, and, thus, begetting an earthquake.

Here are my observations of three earthquakes within a three year period.

At 6:19 the morning of June 10, 2001, while reading the morning news at my PC, I heard a slight explosive sound and felt mild shaking, followed by a lull, followed by a louder explosive sound and brief hard shaking. For the third time in slightly less than 2 years, I have experienced an earthquake.

The USGS reports the quake at a 5 magnitude and centered 24 miles below the surface, just a couple miles North of my home. So that’s two of these three recent earthquakes centered within 5 miles of my home.

This time the whole thing latest just a few seconds but the shaking seemed more intense than the shaking of the two other recent earthquakes. Shaking during the July, 1999 quake lasted for perhaps 20 seconds but was not as intense as it was this morning. While the main effect of the February, 2001 quake, centered 30 miles from here, was rolling of the earth for perhaps 10 seconds. It was quite a sensation, while standing on the earth, to feel as though I were on the rolling sea. I do not recall hearing creaking from the house framing during the other quakes, just rattling of glass in the cupboards and such; but this time the roof framing was creaking to the point that I headed for the door.

I remember that in the wake of the quake of July, 1999 I wrote:

It has been a disappointment to me, over the years, that I had never yet experienced an earthquake. Having not yet been born, I had missed the, 7.1 magnitude, 1949 Puget Sound earthquake that cracked the state capitol dome and the streets in the Olympia neighborhood of my youth; and I had left for the East coast a few years before the 6.5 earthquake in 1965.

Believe me, there is nothing like three earthquakes in two years to assuage such a disappointment.