Paraíso

I found myself here last weekend.

Who knew this was a measly 4 1/2 hours driving distance from my front doorstep? Three car loads of friends made the trek from Phoenix to Santo Tomas, Mexico last Thursday for a much needed long weekend. Our friend, R.'s parents have a beautiful waterfront home in this community. Funny to think that outside the gates, the cactus outnumber the people 300 to 1. Thank you C. family for letting us take advantage of this incredible spot!!

Do you ever feel the overwhelming need for isolation? To break away from the world? Check yourself out of the rat race?

Fly R.....

This is Marta. She and her friend Carlita cooked for us one night. Marta, although tiny, has hands of steel. She literally was flipping the carne asada on the grill, with the flames licking up around her bare hands, hot marinade running down her forearms, and never once wincing in pain. She didn't want tongs....I promise, we tried to get her to use them. Although, in most top kitchens, Chef's need to touch, feel, smell, taste their food all during the cooking process. Their sense of touch helps them know when the meat is done.

Sad to go.... but as you can see, we truly are in the middle of nowhere!

Besides the JUMBO size bag of Cheetos (hello AMERICANS) in the xterra's back window, the funniest part of this photo is the "END HASSLE FREE ZONE" sign on the right side of the road. There is no such thing as a hassle free zone, no matter what signs are posted. We sat at the Mexican / U.S. Border for almost 2 hours. Traffic was stopped, our exhaust fumes marinating the brains of each small child as they begged in traffic. Chicklits, un-refrigerated tamales, "hand woven" hammocks, sob stories, and physical handicaps were being peddled to each car window. The child in this photo saw our window down as I took this photo, and ran up to our car. We tried to put the window up, as he stuck his grubby fingers into the window, trying to keep it from closing....When it finally closed, he pulled back his hand, shaking it, as if trying to dramatically pretend that we had pinched his little fingers. I was saddened to think he has been taught such manipulation so early in life. I wonder how many tourists have fallen for this. Not really paying attention to the window closing, only to look over and see a 6 year old child acting as if you've caused him some great pain....Monetary band aids are the only help he'll accept.
A weekend without a care in the world....Until we meet again.... In the meantime, all I can do is sueño del océano.