Shawshank

Redemption.

I don't remember the quote, but maybe you've seen the movie? Tim Robbins' character says he wants to go to Zihuatanejo and at the end of the movie that's where he is. Anna and I decided to go to Mexico this last weekend. We were deciding where to go - based on space on flights. I saw the name of the city and remembered the movie and wanted to see it. I loved it.

The sun shining, warm at night, the sound of the ocean. Coconut trees swaying in the breeze. Pelicans flying by looking like pterodactyls. Other birds glide on the wind and never flap their wings. Iguanas bask on the rocks, geckos hunt for bugs on the deck. The atmosphere demands relaxation.

It starts with our taxi ride to the hotel. The driver went 40 km over the limit - speeding around cars, some which were driving on the side of the road. (I felt like we were on the Amazing Race - and of course we would've been winning with driving like that!) Then he took us down a more local back road. I saw people out in their yards eating and local shops. I fell in love with it right then. Kinda poor, kinda run down, kinda dirty, but beautiful - full of soul. Our hotel is supposedly on the nicest beach that you can stay on. I'd have to agree. We have an amazing view from our room (as you can see). It's evening when we get in so we just have dinner at the hotel overlooking the bay and then sit in our hammocks and listen to the ocean and read.

On Saturday we took a rickety bus into downtown. It only cost us $0.50. We walked through a market area with some stuff for sale to tourists, but also food and halves of whole cows and such. We wandered around the streets and found some shopping areas. We heard the phrase, "good prices lady" a whole lot. We looked at a lot of the same stuff. I've seen it in other countries too, but I always find it so strange and unsettling to see local law enforcement standing on the corner or outside the supermarket with machine guns. Or cruising the street in the back of a truck with 4 machine guns. Why? Is it necessary? After having our fill we headed back to our hotel and then down to the beach! From the lobby on the top floor of the hotel down to the beach there were approximately 180 steps. Our calves were so incredibly sore!

We sat in the sun - our hotel had towels and chairs and everything you need down there. When it got too hot we would swim in the ocean. I really mean swim too! There was only one breaking wave to get past - which was only at about your waist. After that small swells just went by. The water was calm enough that we could swim out where we couldn't touch and then swim back. I think the salt water made it easy to tread water for longer. I've never really swam in salt water before. When we first went in Anna said something touched her. I told her there was nothing in the water, but then it touched her again. After a while it came and got me! Kinda freaky. But I saw that it was just a little fish. Maybe like 4 inches? It was silver with yellow fins. Everytime we went in they would come swim against our legs. They didn't seem to bother anyone else. I don't get it.

After we're cleaned up we take a romantic starlit walk on the beach. ;) haha We ended up eating at a restaurant on the beach and they pick up all the other tables while we're waiting for our check so it looks like we were just sitting at our own little candlelit table on the beach. The next day we spent the majority of our day taking in the sun and getting burned. Not too bad though. We used sunscreen! I don't think I burned my face at all. That evening we decided to go downtown again because it was the last night of Carnaval. It was a party! Also I was sick so we needed to go to a pharmacy. I had a terrible cough that was keeping me up at night and tearing up my throat. It was probably keeping up our neighbors too because all of the windows were only screens! We got down there during a parade. After using my little bit of spanish (I got to practice a lot!) to get some cough medicine we went over to the main Carnaval area with a stage and food stands and games and people selling stuff. Unfortunately, I felt pretty crappy. So we sat and people watched until it was getting too crowded so we headed back to the hotel. It was really a family event, that was nice.

The next day I was pretty miserable and didn't have the energy to do anything (basically I've been sick for 3 weeks now, I probably have walking pneumonia or something). We were going home that day, but I just sat around all day and then dragged my feet through customs and everything. That was too bad, besides that it was a great vacation. I would definitely go back again. Zihua seems to be a place for non-partiers, older people, quiet people, some families. We didn't want to party, we wanted to relax and it was perfect.