Mexican Reflections

Well, we’re about three whole months into our new chapter here in Japan! We’ve been driving on the left side of the road and muddling through verbal exchanges and apologies in Japanese, and our Latin America-tempered bodies are starting to freeze in the abrupt (awful, wonderful) Japanese autumn. Maybe it’s the change in weather, or the language, or the food, or the realization that we really are starting to “settle in” on the other side of the world, but whatever the reason, I’m finally finding the time (and the will) to write a little bit about the “Wayfaring Sweeneys’” time in Mexico.


A Brief Preface

I’ve attempted to get started on writing something up a few times now (and this post has been developed over the course of a month or so), but I kept pulling the plug on the project for a variety of reasons. Posting pictures of exotic places and delicious food in the midst of some of the darkness and uncertainty of this sociopolitical moment has struck me as a little tone-deaf. That said, Sarah and I aren’t just influencers looking for likes and followers, and we think there’s value in sharing some of the highlights - as well as challenges - that the last year held for us with our friends and family.


Ever since we left Mexico to head back to Oregon in May, I’ve been feeling a need for some kind of post mortem update. While we lived in Costa Rica, I updated a blog a handful of times, but I never once wrote while in Mexico. The experience felt incredibly significant at the time, but difficult to communicate beyond a handful of phone conversations I had throughout our season there. I think that all I’m going to be able to capture here is just a hint of what our time in Mexico was, but I still think it’s worth trying to preserve and share.


Part I: La Paz, Baja California Sur

Before we left Costa Rica, Sarah and I spent a long time researching Mexico and discussing our wants and needs. Safety and access to nature were our primary concerns, as well as the possibility of a teaching job for me. We avoided certain states and ruled out a few other places as too rural, too urban, or too hot for our tastes, and settled on La Paz as our first destination.

 

 

Views from within and above Playa Balandra. Even in the dry, hot off-season, one can clearly see why this bay consistently ranks among the very best beaches in the world.

 

This picture was taken in Todos Santos, a worthwhile place to visit and not a long drive from La Paz.

A view from the malecón. One of the most appealing parts of the city is its seaside walkway, which fills with dogwalkers, skaters, and families at night while cars cruise up and down the street and the restaurants fill with patrons.

La Paz served as our first introduction to some of the realities of life in Mexico. On the one hand, we had access to beautiful natural areas (like Balandra, pictured above), an abundance of phenomenal produce and spices, and even easy and cheap car rentals through an expat-run service. On the other, our apartment was deep inside a newer residential area, all concrete and rock, so without a car of our own we felt trapped in the oven-like desert heat of August. We also quickly had to adapt to the necessity of walking to the nearest convenience store to buy the bottled water we needed for cooking and drinking. Our poor Spanish ability presented some obstacles too, as most of the locals spoke far less English than had been true in Liberia. Further impacting our experience here, we both picked up some illness either while traveling or sometime during our last week or so in Costa Rica (and I got to have my first real medical experience abroad dealing with an ear infection, hooray!).


We also discovered that unlike in Costa Rica, simply Googling “English schools” in a given area isn’t actually a good indication of what sorts of job opportunities for ESL teachers might be around. Most of the results turned out to be closed, one-person “schools,” or ended up being nonresponsive to inquiries. One school did respond to my application attempts, but in an interview I learned that were I to be hired, the hours would be very few and the pay minimal - most of their teachers were just there as a side gig.


La Paz wasn’t working out the way we had hoped. Thankfully, we were able to start planning our next steps and then take a quick break to head back to Oregon for a short family visit. We returned to La Paz with fresh eyes and were able to enjoy our last week a little closer to the water and delicious seafood restaurants.


Part II: San José del Cabo, BCS

With work in La Paz feeling untenable, a move felt necessary. We had previously wanted to avoid the heavily-touristed areas due to all the typical negatives one might associate with tourism: crowds, expense, inauthenticity, sameness. However, with a move somewhere in Mexico imminent, we decided a drive down to Cabo was worth our time “just to see,” as a move anywhere else in the country would require two plane tickets, as opposed to just another car rental for the day. So, we made our way south, and as the desert browns and cacti gave way to the southern coast’s green leaves, we found ourselves surprised at how much we liked what we saw.

 

 

Cerro de las Chivas, a natural hiking area just behind our place. I spent many, many hours here walking in the heat and getting to know some of the desert birds.

 

 

 

The estuary, another beautiful place to linger and bird.

 

Ash-throated Flycatchers became one of my favorites up in the hills, partly because they paid me almost no mind and would let me get pretty close for a shot here and there.

A Xantus’s Hummingbird female - these were usually more skittish, but this one didn’t seem to care much about my presence one way or another.

One of the many Snowy Egrets hanging out at the estuary’s mouth.

 

An endemic Gray Thrasher, another of my low–key favorites. They seemed too big to be songbirds to me, but their song was always a delight to hear.

 

An unexpected late morning visit from a Great Horned Owl in one of our backyard trees. No cats were harmed, at least in our yard!

When Sean and Megan came to visit, we spent some time with them up near Todos Santos. One lucky morning, we spotted a handful of hatchling sea turtles and helped them scoot along to the water.

If I could eat chilaquiles for breakfast every day, I probably would.

I never once had a disappointing taco in Mexico, but the ones at Simaruba were just incredible.

You might not know it to see all the trimmings, but there’s guacamole under there. This was one of the best versions I tried anywhere.

We were blessed to find great accommodations in San José: a little “mother-in-law house” with two rooms, a spiral staircase to a storage loft, and an outdoor shower. The area was surrounded by a wall (no razorwire, though - that was mostly left behind in CR) and felt like our own secret garden. The summer heat continued to linger, but we had a little shade, local restaurants to walk to, and what just felt like more possibilities than had seemed attainable in La Paz.


In San José, we found outstanding food, interesting shopping areas, cultural activities (like the Día de Muertos celebrations), and easier access to natural areas, despite the overall increase in urban footprint. I hiked Cerro de las Chivas (just a 10-minute walk or less from our place) at least a couple of times every week, which helped me balance out the abundance of top-notch food a little bit and also provided me with some of my first “serious” birding experiences. I was able to start practicing more with the little bridge camera that Sarah’s dad gave me, and spent enough time in the hills recording my sightings that I was even stopped a couple of times with an “Are you… Benjamin?” One day, I met a pleasant couple visiting from Canada like this, and on another I met one of the Kaestner brothers, who shared some of his story and photos with me as he went off in pursuit of a Gray Flycatcher and a Black-chinned Sparrow I had just gotten some snaps of earlier in the week.


Some of our “culture shock” kinds of frustrations persisted in San José, but we also grew more accustomed to many of them. Our place wasn’t sealed, so the only way the aircon worked was to blow directly on us as we slept and then we’d just have to manage without during the heat of the day. We were occasionally awakened by earthquakes, but only had to sleep through one (mild) hurricane and otherwise weren’t terribly plagued by insects or the like. Dust and dog feces on the sidewalks were our biggest daily vexations, but life became much more manageable in general. We took Spanish classes from a neighborhood school, were able to use SJ as a base to visit other places around Baja, and - especially once the weather started to cool - we were able to actually start enjoying our life in Mexico a lot more than before. Family from both sides came to visit us in San José, which was a treat (if also a significant undertaking to help coordinate during the last weeks of December), and it was a pretty special experience to be able to introduce them to various sights and foods from a more “local” vantage point.


That said, the job situation for me didn’t shift much. Surprisingly, there was only one viable English school in San José despite its proximity to the tourist hotspot of Cabo San Lucas. I was offered a job, but only if I would take it under the table. As we grappled with that reality, I decided to start working online via a tutoring platform, as that would ostensibly be just as profitable (and more legal). The work situation also prompted us to more seriously start considering that Mexico might not be a long-term living situation for us, and with our lease running out in January, we needed to start deciding where to go. After Sarah suggested that I look into the JET Program in Japan, I applied and we started the long process of waiting to hear back.


Part III: Mérida, Yúcatan

Working at a school in San José felt like it would be a step backwards from our experience in Liberia, and so since teaching online became my new direction for the time being, we decided that we would try to maximize our remaining time in Mexico by continuing to travel. It would be more expensive than simply staying in one place, of course, but who really gets the opportunity to live as a digital nomad outside of the realm of “influencers” and people with seemingly-impossible lives lived out on Instagram? We had heard really positive things about Mérida, a jewel of a city a few hours inland from Cancún, and we decided to give it a go.

El Monumento de la Patria in downtown Mérida - huge, beautiful, and covered with images from Mexico’s indigenous past, colonial period, independence, and modernity.

The understandably-popular destination of Chichén-Itzá, whose ancient Mayan ruins are just an hour or so away from Mérida.

In order to renew our passports, we needed to leave the country after six months. It was less expensive to go to Guatemala than to go back to the States (even Houston or Miami), so we decided to take a long weekend in Antigua!

We found Guatemala to be well worth a visit, and definitely would go again with more time to spare.

From Mérida, we were also able to visit some other places in Yúcatan, including the fishing village of Celestún. The transition from middle-class Mérida to this relatively impoverished area was fairly jarring, though we were glad to experience it.

One of several different species of oriole that frequented the trees outside our apartment, the Altamira Oriole.

White-eyed Vireo

 

White-fronted Amazon (formerly White-fronted Parrot)

One of my old favorites from Costa Rica is also a lucky bird in the Mayan culture - the Turquoise-browed Motmot (or pájaro reloj - “clock bird” for its pendulum-like tailfeathers).

A Fulvous Owl, called out of the Guatemalan forest by our guide.

Crocodilian eyes in the murky mangrove waters near Isla Holbox.

 

American Flamingos in the ocean shallows near Celestún.

Mérida proved to be a wonderful city, full of great international cuisine, a bustling nightlife, access to incredible archaeological sites and natural areas… it was probably Sarah’s favorite place in Mexico, and it served us well for the short time we lived there. It felt very safe, if a little hot (and we were there during the coolest part of the year). We had access to a CrossFit gym (my first, ha), a food truck across the street, a great little park for me to bird, a place to bring all of our recycling (difficult in much of Mexico), and many of the general amenities of city life. I even found a suit rental shop, from which I rented a shirt, jacket, and tie for my online JET interview in January!


Part IV: Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca

Mérida was a great experience. That said, it was only going to get hotter, and there was more of Mexico to see before we’d be heading back to the States before venturing onwards to Japan. We liked the idea of getting back near the beach and we read and heard positive things about Oaxaca, so we looked at the possibilities and decided on Puerto Escondido. PE is known for its beaches (especially its surfing) and all of Oaxaca has a well-earned reputation for outstanding food. An international airport (its existence largely owing thanks to the steady stream of surfing pilgrims) helped clinch the deal for us, and we made our way south for what we planned to be our last stop in Mexico.

Our driveway - our place was the shorter building on the right.

The rooftop view above Puerto Escondido.

 

 

The concept was really quite lovely, if somewhat tight (and ultimately a little too open for our tastes).

From our place in PE, we were able to easily access a couple of really cool places - one was Laguna Manialtepec, which held a little island just teeming with herons (like this Tricolored Heron) and other species nesting and sunning themselves.

Not actually a muppet, but a Boat-billed Heron.

Russet-crowned Motmots in the woods behind the house.

 

Pale-billed Woodpecker in the crispy-dry forest of Huatulco.

I spooked this Lesser Nighthawk while I was out walking. It soared around me a few times before resettling on a branch not far off.

We saw a lot more of these critters than we ever care to again!

 

Local tacos al pastor were plentiful, cheap, and some of the best I’ve ever had.

 

 

 

 

We decided to splurge on a Michelin-starred local restaurant for my birthday, and this ended up being one of the highlights of our time in PE.

I couldn’t tell you what this mole-covered fish was, but this was one of the best meals I had in Mexico.

After experiencing life in Mérida and its relative convenience, Puerto Escondido proved a shock to our systems in some ways. We found ourselves in a neighborhood far from the touristy bustle of PE’s beach and bar scene, which had its charms but also its difficulties. We had Uber in Mérida, but local taxis are the norm in Oaxaca, and our first one from the airport struggled to get up our steep dirt and rock driveway. The apartment was new and tastefully-designed, with smooth concrete shelves and lots of ventilation to allow for natural airflow. Our landlords were kind, there were woods near the house for exploring, and we had a great rooftop view of the town below. The shower was unheated, but in the powerful Mexican summer it was also probably the best shower we had gotten to experience.


What we hadn’t quite counted on was a combination of challenges in the form of heat, insects, and general difficulties getting around - things that reminded us uncomfortably of some of our harder moments in Liberia. We didn’t have easy car rental access, and while our landlords were willing to rent a scooter to us we weren’t confident enough in our scooting abilities to take them up on it. Grocery stores were too deep into town to get to without walking over thirty minutes in the oppressive heat or navigating taxis, and all the restaurants (besides a couple of very local and very tasty taco spots) were also well outside our neighborhood. We also needed to either handwash our laundry in the sink or pack it into town for the cleaning ladies to launder for us, which were new experiences. We also had forgotten the realities of living in an open-air, unconditioned situation… the heat, the noise from dogs, goats, and the bullhorns of food hawkers, and the scorpions and mosquitos all started to become pretty taxing on our mental wellbeing, especially during the unpredictable power outages that would knock out our fans and our water in the same fell swoop.


Part V: San Andrés Huayapam, Oaxaca

Puerto Escondido gave us access to some great food and unquestionably impressive beaches, but we found ourselves struggling with aspects of the infrastructure, our home, and some features of the town in general. We took a weekend trip up to Oaxaca City in mid-March and were deeply impressed (and relieved) by the cooler temperatures, green trees, art scene, and restaurants. After we returned to PE and experienced another sweaty, mosquito-bitten night without power, we decided it would be worth the effort and expense to move one (truly) final time in Mexico to help sweeten the chapter’s last taste.

Our backyard - still dry from the summer, but a glorious sunset.

Hazy, but still spectacular view from the heights.

 

We left just before the agave bloomed.

Air quality - from fires, as opposed to just city smog - was an issue, but didn’t prevent us from enjoying the outdoors.

The streets of Oaxaca City are full of art, restaurants, breweries, and history.

 

 

A famous Oaxaca street artist named “Bouler” left his mark across the walls of various downtown shops.

Vermillion Flycatchers were a frequent visitor to our backyard.

Thick-billed Kingbird

The elusive Oaxaca Sparrow

 

Lesser Roadrunner

West Mexican Chachalaca

The delicious food and warm hospitality of a small local restaurant named “Piedra Roja” was an unexpected highlight of our time in Huayapam.

Tejate - a local corn and cacao drink. We experienced a tejate festival in our village that people from all around came to partake in!

An enmoladas dish with both red and black moles represented. Mole is arguably the signature dish of Oaxaca, and I sampled it in its various forms repeatedly and with gusto.

In Huayapam we finally were able to relax a little bit more than we had in PE. It was cooler, bugs were down, and our access to both the city and to nature improved dramatically. We rented a car for our full stay, so we could get to the grocery stores or visit the city without intense effort and planning. We also were right up against the hills and national park north of Oaxaca City, and the return to hiking and birding in the morning before the cicadas would ratchet all the way up was truly wonderful.


Huayapam wasn’t perfect, but it gave us a needed dose of many of the things we had been missing, along with some of the things we had come to love and expect throughout Mexico. We experienced just a taste of community at Piedra Roja, where the homemade sausages and moonshiner mezcales paired excellently with good conversation and local recommendations, we continued getting out and around for new birds and delicious dishes, and we were able to access many of Oaxaca City’s offerings, from shops and museums to restaurants and cafes. With Japan nearing reality and just a short break back in Oregon in the works, it was a real blessing to be able to end our time in Mexico in Huayapam.


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I started writing this post in September, and came back multiple times for edits and additions. It’s far longer than I initially intended for it to be, but, well, we covered a lot of ground - literally and figuratively - in our relatively short season in Mexico, and this was my first shot at putting much of it into writing.


We’re settling into our life in Japan and working through some of the unique challenges here. They’re currently occupying a great deal of our time and attention these days, but both Sarah and I are so grateful that we got to experience life the way we did throughout Mexico. We learned and experienced more than can be summarized in a post like this, which is part of what gives us confidence moving forward in this new, vastly different part of the world.