We had been hearing, for years now, that Semana Santa (Holy Week) was to be avoided at all costs. Many of the winter people have gone home to Canada and the US. Most all of those who were leaving left before Wednesday, just to get out of town. Being that we are here for our first long stay, we wanted to get the whole experience.
Our friends David and Michael convinced us that it wouldn't be too bad. They have stayed in town and done just fine. There were no food shortages, the restaurants remained mostly empty and life would go on as usual, at least for us gringos.
Chela, our housekeeper, had a different version. She told us to be very careful, to be sure to to lock all of the doors, hide the computers and valuables, or at least keep them out of sight for the duration. She explained that there were a lot of kids coming who had no money and who hitch-hiked here from all over the country. She went so far as to suggest that we not carry our back packs with us into town as these kids might try to steal them.
Here is a picture of Sayulita on the Sunday night before the tourists arrived. The lights are some of the vendors who have arrived to set up before the event. The photo is taken from the roof top deck of a local pub.
On Wednesday evening the buses began to arrive. Some of the luxury buses complete with bathrooms and wi-fi and others so dilapidated that we couldn't see how the wheels were held on. The buses were full of Mexican tourists who came to the beach for a vacation.
The kids also came, in droves, many of them on foot walking in from the highway, about a mile or two. They were all here for a three day rave put on by a record company. The party was held out of town on a beach well away from the town core. It is a fairly secluded beach that is almost always unused by locals. It just isn't easy to get too.
The kids were here for a good time and didn't mind that they didn't have any money and didn't know they were going to get their meals. They had chips and water in their back packs. They were with their friends and that is all that mattered. It is difficult to estimate how many kids came but some locals estimate this group at five thousand. Yea, the local population is less than that.
The tour buses also carried lots of Mexican families on vacation. They came with tents and coolers and blow up water toys and umbrellas and ice chests. Many of them also drove in private cars and pick up trucks filled beyond capacity. It amazes me how many people can fit into a standard car. Six people can fit into the back seat of a Honda! The front passenger seat is usually reserved for Abuela (grandma) or Abuelo (grandpa) with everyone else crammed in back. The buses and cars continued arriving until Saturday morning.
This is a picture of our beach, in the morning, before the restaurants set up umbrellas and chairs.
And all of these folks appeared almost overnight.
We did go into town each day. We like to have a smoothie or a beer at one of the local beach bars and watch the tourists. It can be fascinating. We often point out the really white folks on the beach so we can watch for them later, after they have turned bright red. It is amazing how many people don't think they need sun screen when laying in the sun, drinking.
One of the complaints of the locals, usually the gringos, have about Semana Santa is the trash that is left behind. I don't know enough about the government here in town to know why they haven't figured out that thousands of extra people create an emormous amount of trash. It seems that many in town would rather point fingers at one another on Facebook than come up with a viable plan that could be put into effect year after year. The town doesn't even have garbage cans, let alone enough people to pick up the trash.
There is a group of local, Mexican volunteers who work tirelessly, for tips, to keep it under control. Often, people from the Facebook group will get together to make a sweep of the beach. I did this one night just to meet some folks. I ended up meeting a lovely woman named Cookie. We had hoped to meet up with another group on the beach but didn't. We were pleased to see that many folks had bagged up garbage for disposal or who were more than willing to take a bag to fill for disposal later. Cookie and I became friends and will be getting together later to make another trash run.
Here is a stack of trash we found after we were finished. It was from another group that was working the beach at the same time as Cookie and me.
You will note that I am very sweaty in this picture. Even though it is about 7:30 in the evening, it was still very hot. I have to remember to drink lots of water. The photo was taken by a friendly passerby.
After my trash adventure, Cookie and I sat and talked for quite awhile. Even though it was quite warm it was comfortable to sit on a low wall and talk. Like a lot of half-time residents she moved here to escape the cold. She is from Wisconsin so she knows cold.
After my talk with Cookie, I started home. When I got to the end of our driveway the house was completely dark. This is very unusual as JD rarely goes off by himself, particularly in the evening. I guessed he had gone to have a beer with Gabriel at the restaurant down the street. When I got there JD was nowhere to be found. Neither was Gabriel. But the rest of the family, who own the restaurant and invited us to the quinceanos party were all there.
Fernando insisted that I have at least one beer with them. I don't know a lot of Spanish but I have learned two things. If a male host offers you a beer, you take it. If a female host offers you food, you eat it. It is pointless to resist. The beer is already open and the food is on a plate. And it is hovering next to your hand. The host or hostess isn't capable of putting it anywhere but in your hand or on the table in front of you. Luckily for me they know I like to drink the half-sized Coronitas. I love these people.
Normally Gabriel not being there would have been a problem but I got lucky. One of his younger cousins, Diego, was there working with the family for Semana Santa. He speaks more than enough English and helped get me through a very fun and entertaining evening. Diego told made up stories about how horrible his aunt Monica was to him, how she was working him to death in the kitchen and feeding him only the left over crusts of pizza the rest of the family had for dinner. Yea, right! He is a natural comic and told several of these stories throughout the evening.
It is interesting for me to note that when the laughter gets going, the language barrier somehow disappears. The harder the laughter, the more we understand each other. I wonderful evening with them under the tree and the lights in front of their restaurant.
The weather is still getting warmer. We haven't passed the 90 degree mark yet but it has been predicted for the last few days. Regardless, I would always rather be too warm than too cold.
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