Mexico

Wed Aug. 18th

Steph and I landed in Puerto Vallarta, greeted by a lush mountain backdrop and cloudy warm skies. We quickly found our little hotel on the beach and put our things down to hit the streets in search of food.
We happened upon Bacalao, a somewhat pricey sit-down restaurant serving mostly seafood. We ordered smoked marlin tacos and spicy octopus tacos. They came in a corn tortilla with an avocado slice on top, folded into a small wavy metal tray whose grooves fit the tacos like a glove.
We then headed to the beach, run with Mexican tourists and vendors of marionettes, jewelry, tatoo books, blankets and shells. The vendors ranged anywhere from six years to seventy or eighty. These elderly women with their colorful skirts, gray hair pulled back into a pony tail, weathered skin, walking on the beach are strong. I have a lot of respect for someone who has to work into old age.

It starts raining and our sheet and purses are getting wet so we head to the main beach boulevard. We're greeted by a "hey, where ya'll from? I'm from Texas! And my wife and I sell tequila". Steph looks at me with a "what the hell, why not" expression and we go into this man's store where there are shelves of all grades of tequila, mostly 100% agave. We taste 6 or 7 little sips of everything from smokey to fruit-infused. His home-blend is mango, peach and guanabana-infused. After many of his attempts to sell us his blend, we decide to tip and leave.
Making our way around town, we pass shops with pottery, blown glass, jewelry and leather. The men are outside beckoning for our business with "hi beautiful ladies". Some shops were far from souvenier shops. There's often a simple domicile with the woman of the house cleaning, folding laundry or cooking while her children watch TV on a lace-covered couch in an unlit living room.
Then, it begins to really pour. We are running through the streets, soaked, laughing as we wade through the rivers that form on the cobble stone intersections. The rain was a sweet retreat from the sweltering humidity of this dusty town.