06/01/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Mexican pop stars and auto repair fill our days

The town has been bustling in the days leading up to the big concert.  To celebrate Puerto Vallarta's 87th Anniversary (87, quite a meaningful seeming number), the city put on a free concert starring Alejandro Fernandez.  Alejandro (a one-name-only-type-celebrity), is apparently the biggest star in the world.  At least that's what we gathered from the peoples of PV.  Most of his music is 'ranchero' style, but his most recent CD is very American pop-star - we hear his most recent hit song on the radio daily.  So we went down to the Malecon to see what all of the hype was about.  We were the only people, amongst the thousands of screaming and singing fans, who were unable to recite every word to every Alejandro song.  The men were holding their ladies, serenading them along with Alejandro (lest the handsome star get too much of their ladies' attentions).  A gigantic video screen set up next to the stage afforded us our only real glimpse of the singer, and a state-of-the-art sound system pumped out the best quality audio we've ever heard at a venue - indoor OR out.  The fancier folk pulled their yachts up close to the oceanside stage to enjoy the show.  We knew people on at least a couple of those boats, but none well enough to have been invited along.  Three songs after we got there, we decided we'd seen enough, and went in search of some food.

Now, as for the 'muffler' section of the aforementioned title, our neglected Chevy-girl was in dire need of some work on hers.  For the past week or so, we'd been dragging her muffler and/or catalytic converter over all of the speed bumps around town.  Scott took her in to a local shop to see what was up, where he had the best auto shop experience of his life.  The friendly workers showed him the problem (a shoddy previous muffler replacement at a San Francisco shop where they used ill-fitting parts), and invited him to watch as they took apart everything under the car to start from scratch... this time "with factory parts made in the good ole USA" (quoting the shop owner).  After welding on the new parts, in shorts of course, they sent Scott on his way, just $125 USD poorer.

05/30/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Catching the first summer blockbuster, Mexican-style

After parking in the front of the shopping center where the theater is located, we wander through the mall and parking lot in search of this supposed theater.  Around the back of the building, we finally find where we're supposed to be.  We follow little paper signs with arrows pointing to the theater through what looks like a massive construction site that would probably require hard hats and safety goggles for admittance (no, they did not provide these for us), had it been located in the US.  We pass through sections that are not yet enclosed (as in, open to the elements) and walk by grand, curving concrete staircases leading to nowhere.  Just as our fear about what the viewing theater will look like is mounting to almost unacceptable levels, we approach the ticket counter, which is simply a desk where one of the several employees marks off the ticket sales on a piece of paper on a clipboard (they love clipboards in this country - every working Mexican seems to have one!).  

We pay for our tickets and keep moving...aaahhh, big sigh of relief...the area of the theater where the screening rooms are located looks like a normal theater just like we would see back home.  In fact, our theater had a huge screen, state-of-the-art sound, stadium seating and beautiful art deco-style sconce lighting on the walls.  And of course it was super clean since it is brand-new. After the adventure of getting there, the movie was a bit of a letdown for Caroline (although Scott expressed satisfaction with the film), but the delicious hot buttered popcorn made up for it!

05/25/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Enough of this demolition crap - build something already!

Scott has been a real trooper and continues to diligently monitor the progress, measuring Alfredo's work and making him shave 2 cm (yes, we've gone totally metric on y'all!) off the counter height and buying the necessary electrical supplies and glass blocks, while Caroline lounges around reading and getting periodic updates from the ever-busy Scott.  (Note: Scott thinks that Caroline is being too hard on herself and making herself sound even lazier than she is.)  Stay tuned for new progress photos - coming soon!

05/25/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Back to the Casa Andrea and oceanfront dining with new friends

What a busy day (mostly for Scott) yesterday was!  Well, we finally got kicked out of our rental condo because someone else was scheduled to come and stay there.  Just as well; we never really liked that place anyway (except for the awesome view and cool ocean breezes)!  After some diligent research (since we are obsessed with getting the best value for our pesos), we ended up striking a deal for our next two weeks of lodging with Andrea of Casa Andrea that suited all parties involved.  This is the same place we stayed when we first pulled into town, so it's kind of like coming home (as much as anything is these days, anyway).  The sun even came out for us today after a few cloudy, humid days so we could even enjoy a little time at the pool (Scott opted for the hammock, as you can see from the photo at right).

But first, yesterday.  Scott got up early and started moving all of our stuff down the street to room #8 at Casa Andrea (our old room even!) while Caroline continued to slumber after a tiring couple of weeks.  We had everything pretty much packed up already so it wasn't too bad, except that with all our remodeling supplies Scott looked like he was moving in for a couple of years, rather than a couple of weeks, and felt the need to explain himself to the friendly and helpful staff at our new home.

After a tiring day of moving and shopping for more stuff for the condo, we ended up making plans with a really fun couple we met while we were in Guadalajara on our recent shopping trip.  Originally from Missouri, Ken and Melissa and their two young children, Jordan (4) and Cooper (2) are spending a couple of months in Puerto Vallarta in between relocating from Manhattan to Chicago.  When we met them in Tlaquepaque, they were in the midst of traveling from Puerto Vallarta to San Miguel and Guanajuato, before heading back to the States.  Having quite a bit in common (e.g., youthful couple traveling in Mexico, Midwestern background, love of margaritas and gift of gab, among other things), we hit it off with them immediately and were pleased when they contacted us to get together upon their return to Vallarta.  We really enjoyed meeting them and were anxious to hear about their recent trip, especially since we are planning the same trip if we can ever escape from our condo remodel!  (If you are reading this, Ken and Melissa, please don't forget to send the hotel info we discussed!)  That evening, the four of us shared a delightful and tasty meal at La Palapa, an atmospheric restaurant right on the beach (on the sand, in fact), complete with margaritas and the filming of a cheesy Mexican music video (what's a good Mexican meal without that, right?!) on the beach in front of the restaurant.

05/22/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Six months after departure

It's been six months since we left San Francisco (and our house, and a 'normal' life).  It's flown by... Over nine months since Caroline has held down a job, around seven for Scott.  We're starting to think we'd really need 10 years to see/do everything we want to, and go all of the places we'd like to.  We've got to start figuring out ways to make the money last longer!

Six months, and our Spanish is no better than when we left!  Well, Caroline has come a long way (starting from zero), and Scott HAS learned a lot of construction terms...but otherwise, very disappointing.

05/21/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Our first trip to the movies

Most movies down here are in English, with Spanish subtitles (with the exception of kids movies, of course).  We chose to go see, ironically, The Interpreter.  It felt a bit like going to the movies in the 1950's, what with the old decor and signage, and the 50's pop music playing before the movie started - and there was even an intermission halfway through!  Overall, it was a satisfying experience.  Several Mexicans in the audience must have thought it was okay to talk during the movie, since everyone is reading the dialogue anyway, but it didn't really bother us.  The popcorn, not bad, cooked in plenty of oil, but no butter.  As with everything else, chili powder seems to be the condiment of choice (we're a little surprised we didn't see anyone slathering their 'palomitas' with mayo). 

Our movie choice was kind of funny, since there were several scenes where people were speaking various other foreign languages where in the U.S. version I'm sure there were English subtitles that were in Spanish in our version.  We managed okay though.  Star Wars is currently playing on half the screens in Puerto Vallarta - Scott wants to go see it in the fancy new theater on the outskirts of town.  Oh, the best part of movie-going here, of course, is the price!  About $3.00 U.S. per ticket ($2.25 on Wednesdays), $2.00 for a large popcorn AND a drink!

05/20/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

A sample of what we've been eating

We've had several people ask us what we eat when we're down here, and how the food is.  Well, it's hard to go anywhere from San Francisco and expect to find better food, but we've managed to find some things we like.  Caroline of course has her troubles finding things that aren't too spicy, although she's been getting quite adventurous and trying new salsas.  Some of our favorite stuff is pretty simple, avocados, fresh juice, taco stand snacks.... and we've had some great shrimp at a couple of places.  Click here to see the details of our dining one particular week in May.

05/15/05 - 05/17/05 - Tlaquepaque, MX

Five hours of driving to go to the Home Depot?

Okay, so it wasn't JUST to go to the Home Depot, but that was a big part of the trip (the faucet selection in PV is small and expensive!).  There are two HDs in the Guadalajara area, one in the suburb of Zapopan (a city with over a million people), and the other in Tlaquepaque (another half million in this burb).  We also wanted to hit the craft-heavy towns of Tlaquepaque and Tonala, known for their furnishings, pottery, and other arts & crafts. 

Driving into Zapopan, we figured we'd see the Home Depot off the side of the Highway.  But Zapopan is big.  Really big.  On the map (which I've seen since) it looks bigger than Guadalajara, which has at LEAST four million people in its downtown.  So we ended up fairly lost and clueless, at which point Scott decided to try to ask a local woman, who happened to be strolling down the road with her teenage son, for directions.  After 5 or 10 minutes of pretty awful communication, she offered to get in the car with us and take us there - although she admitted she had no idea where it was either (Scott understood that much at least).  We ended up driving for about 20 minutes - mostly highway, when she figured we were in the right area.  She got out of the car, as did her son and Scott, and started asking people in all directions if they knew where Home Depot was.  Scott finally succeeded, and we discovered we were only a few blocks away.  We tried to figure out where they wanted us to take them next, but they said they were fine, wouldn't be needing a ride anywhere.  Huh?  We drove them probably 7 or 8 miles from where they were walking with their groceries, and they were happy to just be dropped by the Home Depot?  Scott tried to insist on taking them somewhere, but she just seemed happy that we were going to be able to get to our American hardware store (that she had never heard of).  We ended up giving them some pesos for their time, and watched them walk away.

The Home Depot was much like those in the States, but didn't have any faucets of interest for us.  We checked into our Tlaquepaque hotel (the Quinta Don Jose - which we recommend to those staying in the area), and headed over to the OTHER Home Depot, where we were able to find some decent stuff (after first getting hopelessly lost...again - Scott finally got some directions from a guy who reminded him of his dad at a 7-eleven). 

Monday was filled with bargain hunting in Tonala, and some more shopping in Tlaquepaque.  Tonala provided us with six ceramic sconces, and back in Tlaquepaque we found a nice ceramic pendant lamp for over our eat-up kitchen counter.  We finished the night off with a nice dinner at Casa Vieja. Since our hotel has wi-fi (hence the long entry tonight), we came back to hang out and use the computer before our big drive back to Puerto Vallarta tomorrow with our trunk full of booty.

Caroline shops in Tonala

05/12/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Hiring a carpenter to build our furnishings

Although we've spoken with four other carpenters, we decided to chat with one more, a relative of Freddy's (the former Mr. Mexico, pictured here with Caroline).  Freddy is the sales manager at the sold-out Selva Romantica condominium complex.  Why they need a sales manager at a place that's been sold out for a while is a question we haven't asked him, and one I'm sure he doesn't ask his boss.  Anyway, the Selva Romantica building has the terrace doors we really wanted, so Scott went over there to measure them and generally size them up in all capacities, which is how Freddy entered the picture.

This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to have our furniture custom made for our place for next to nothing.  For $24,000 pesos (around $2,200 US), we're having our kitchen cabinets, a bathroom vanity, a custom armoire, and our doors and windows made & installed.  At these prices, we'll probably end up having him make a canopy bed for us too, as we may not get this opportunity again any time soon!

05/08/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Our new layout

We mentioned before that we'd post the new floorplan once we made some decisions.  We've spent quite a bit of time trying to get this figured out, and feel pretty comfortable with the current plan.  We're putting the 'before' plan up (how it looks now), along with our big plans for its future.

Click Here to see the BEFORE floorplan

Click Here to see the NEW floorplan

05/06/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

We finally added some photos to old entries

If you're interested in seeing photos from our recent trip to San Francisco, click here, and if you'd like to see photos from Janet & Mark's wedding, click here.

05/05/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Figuring out what goes on on May 5th

We've been looking forward to finding out if they celebrate 5 de Mayo as enthusiastically here as they seem to in the U.S., or if it's just an opportunity that Corona takes to sell beer to Americans.  Guess we'll find out today, at least we'll see what happens in PV.  Apparently, the big celebration is in Puebla, where it all went down.

(Later that day...) Well, it was a pretty quiet day around here.  The businesses were all open, construction workers were hammering away, and we didn't see any signs of celebration... not even any fireworks, which are quite common for any occasion.

05/04/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Our first "mordida" incident shapes up to be exactly what we expected

Okay, so it wasn't as exciting as we may have eluded to in the title of the entry, but it's true!  After parking on a side street to stop in an appliance store outside of town, we (Scott) made a u-turn to get back on the main road.  A cop directing traffic had us pull over, leaned in the passenger window, and told us it was a one way street.  Scott had to give him his driver's license, and he told us we'd need to go down to some judicial building the next day to pay our fine and get the license back.  We've read plenty of times exactly how we should handle the situation, so Caroline sprung into action, asking the officer, "can't we just pay our fine here?".  After the cop made a show of wavering, saying things how it might look bad because he's a Mexican police officer taking money, and how he wouldn't be able to give us a receipt, he finally relented.  Hands on hips, he looked up at the sky to 'calculate' how much the fine was for this infraction, and decided upon a number of 575 pesos (a lot, compared to what we've heard, prices are inflated in PV!).  Scott told him that we didn't have that much money.  If there was any question about whether or not this guy was really trying to accept a bribe, his reply of "how much you got?" answered that for us.  Scott told him we could pay 300 pesos (about $28 USD), which he leaned in the car to surreptitiously accept.

Police get paid very minimal wages, which is what encourages them to collect bribes.  In Mexico, they call the bribes you must pay the police "la mordida", which translates to "the bite".  Once you know how the system works, it's really not as frustrating as you might think at first - so long as the police are pulling people over for real infractions.  He could have given us a ticket, and we'd have had to deal with some city office to try to get our license back, but we were able to handle it quite quickly on the spot.  Scott wanted to get a photo of the police officer accepting the bribe for the website, but figured the cop probably wouldn't take kindly to that particular photo shoot.

05/02/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

A trip to Sayulita, and a lot of Excel (just like the 'good' ole days)

Well, we seem to be successfully squatting in our apartment, as no one has told us we need to leave or will tell us if we can pay to stay.  So while we're here, we've spent a lot of time re-assessing the floorplan of our new condo.  We've decided (with the help of City Hall, which you can't fight here either - but can persuade with pesos) that we're only going to have a smaller terrace, just outside of our bedroom.  So we've been looking at new options (using Excel) that weren't open to us before - we'll post the new floorplan if anyone cares.

We made the trip up to Sayulita (turns out it's an hour north) on Saturday to visit with friends Elba & Susan.  It was great to get to see them and their cool new place - you feel like you're practically living outside.  Sayulita has a great beach, very popular with surfers (like Elba & Susan).  The four of us had an excellent dinner at a restaurant in town, all of us getting the enormous shrimp.  We're already thinking about going back to that place someday.  We ended up running into them again the next afternoon while they were having lunch close to our apartment.  After we finished off their lunch for them, we all walked the three blocks or so to our new condo to give them the tour of the 'before' scenario.  This was on May 1st, and the beach/town was extremely busy.  After the fact, we figured out that it was May Day, a big holiday down here.  We even got to see a rally in the main plaza with signs saying something about ridding Mexico of the imperialist Yanques.  Hey, that's us! :-)

Finally, the fontanerias (Spanish for plumbers).  Since our new floorplan involves moving our kitchen to a different part of the unit, we thought we'd better find out if it is actually feasible and what the cost would be.  Talking with two plumbers (there was a third no-show appointment, just like plumbers in San Francisco!), it seems like it should be cheap and easy, around $250 to $300.

04/28/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

With our lease ending tomorrow, we have no place to go yet

Our lease technically ends tomorrow, although we've been able to successfully extend it once before.  But lately we can't reach anyone at the property management office (they're in South & Central America apparently), so we don't know if we can continue on here.  I think our plan will be to just squat here until someone else wants to move in... then we'll pay our accrued rent and find somewhere to move.  Hopefully we'll be able to talk to the property managers before then, though.

More condo work, as we spent three hours at the new place today talking with people and trying to finish off our floorplan.  Tonight, we'll be dining on a little taste of home (Prego spaghetti sauce!).  Tomorrow, we'll be heading about 40 minutes north of PV to Sayulita to meet up with our San Francisco realtor and friend Elba and girlfriend Susan to have dinner and see THEIR condo that they're in the process of fixing up - also for vacation rentals.  It'll be fun to focus on someone else's problem for a change.

04/28/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX

Getting quotes and Spanish practice

Went to four carpenters today, twice to two of them.  We're trying to save some pesos on our fancy sliding doors (pictured right - this is the building across the street from where we currently live), after getting an expensive initial quote of $3,000 USD from our contractor.  The next four quotes ranged from $1,600 down to $850, all installed!  Getting a lot of Spanish practice, as many carpenters speak little to no English.

Also took some time to send an email to everyone with our quarterly update (only one month late).  But if you're reading this, you probably know that already.