TORTUGAS AND CAFE

This morning was one of them. Walk One of the days, had Hershey, my chocolate Lab and I out early, it was still dark but the sky was lighting up and Hershey was pulling at me as we headed up the beach.

“What’s up,” I said to her, in a kinda harsh voice. I wasn’t fully awake yet and Hershey was in a hurry but I was not.  A few hundred feet up the beach I saw what all the pulling was about. Little puffs of sand were coming out of a hole.

A minute later the first of about 20 little turtles hatchlings began digging their way out of the sand. Just 45 days before the grand opening, those little hatchling’s mother had laid her eggs in a nest on our gorgeous beach on the Bay of Banderas.  Soon a group gathered and all of us took turns delivering these baby turtles, into the surf. We knew what to do, hold them gently in the palm of your hand and wait until a wave rolls out then put the babies down. The circle of life playing out so sweetly in our crazy iPhone world.  And that was just one of the little things I like so much that happens every day.

Closer to the earth. That’s how I would describe life here. You can feel and touch it. Life seems so much more unpackaged. So uncommercial. Every town has a distinct character, not mall after mall or strip after strip with the same brand name stores and shops, restaurants, and activities. I love Domingo, Sunday to you when families get together and enjoy each other. Much more like the world, I grew up in and probably you did too.

I like the genuine warmth of the people and how welcome they make you feel. I like how easy it is to get around here and actually how much fun it is to hop on the local bus and get where you need to go. I have done a bus far south to Punta Careyes and north to Guadalajara a few times and was able to watch the green of the sea give way to the blue-green of agave before they become golden tequila as we zig-zagged through the countryside. A/C on high all the way.

I like the spontaneous conversations I have with taxi drivers, who always want to know where I’m from. And their surprise when I say, “here.”  I especially love how much laughter we can generate with our mutually mangled language skills, but somehow my poquito español and their poquito inglés and lots of smiles makes it all come out right.

I like the weather. As I sit here writing this, I am literally witnessing one of the first cloudy days I’ve seen in almost 2 years. Even rainy season, the summer, is polite enough to rain at night and not take away one of your precious days in the sun. I like the warm ocean, right now just below body temperature. The gentle waves and powdery sand.  I like the Ex-Pat community. Amazing people and friendships that I have made here. And how easy it is to join in on the fun.

I like that there is so much to do here and see, you can get tired just thinking of them all. Every imaginable water sport, tropical gardens, and taco tours. Beaches and mountains. Jungles and cities. I like the ancient archeological sites and the modern boutiques. I like walking the Malecon, the famous Puerto Vallarta sea walk and stopping at the Cake Lady for a slice of her Tres Leches cakes. I like the crepe makers, and the living statues that make you jump when they move and the magicians that do tricks you can not figure out right before your eyes.

I like the gastronomic palette that spreads out before you. Down home simple to simply elegant. I like the Churros, the fruit stuffed fried dough the guy on the corner sells and the curbside tacos stands. I like the little stores every street has. A few six-packs, a couple of bags of chips, a mop and broom or two and Walmart watch out.

I like the pride of these people. Their work ethic. Their physical beauty and their charm and yes I admit it, I like what the local beauties do to yoga pants. I like mangoes and the cocos, the pina and the guac. And though I’ve left a lot of it behind, I like how wired to the world I still am. I like that I can watch the Giants get beaten then go down and take a dip in my pool to drown my sorrows. I like the sound of the waves outside my window and the sounds of laughter from the adorable niños with their little outfits and ribbons in their hair.

I like that they are so polite and well-behaved and seem less swallowed by technology than my grandchildren are. I like the little galleries, and artisan shops, the Day of the Dead masks and margaritas 2X1. I like that the dollar is high against the peso and buys so much more. All those little things add up to a lot. I have traveled the world and everywhere has its charms, but this place is like no other in so many ways, both big and little.

And if like me, you want to reward yourself for a life well lived, in a place that will give you an incredible life, full time or part time or anything in-between, I know just the people who can make that all come true without the stress and concerns a foreign property purchase can bring. Coldwell-Banker at the Marina PV. They will take all the little things you are looking for and turn them into exactly what you want.

The time is now, the place is here. Life in PV is something special, and what a coincidence, that can be your life. When you look back at it all, it’s really about what you did in life, not what you didn’t.

Come share my dream.

Saludos, Irv