Celebrating Xmas Zihuatanejo Style - or if we build it...will they come?

This year, we've been fortunate that 2 of our 3 children were able to come for a visit in December.  Kristen and a workplace amiga squeezed into the one week we have a vacancy in our rental apartment and Eric, who is in another year of training for Ironman Canada arrived together on December 14th. 


Yesterday we said a rushed but teary goodbye to Kristen who was enroute to PV to visit friends in Sayulita before flying back to Vancouver on Xmas Day....best prices ever!  Eric is staying on with us in our guest room until January 4th and using this as a training camp focusing on improving running and swimming, but still managing to squeeze in a few bike rides like along the beachside dirt road between Playa Larga and Barra de Potosi yesterday...

We are now the proud owners of the perfect ex-pats Xmas gift...a new Kindle.  Thanks kids for thinking of us and how we arent' going to be techno-dinosaurs now that we are retired and living here in bookless Mexico.  Seriously, the access to English literature once we have read the books we arrive with is limited to discarded and often grungy trade paperbacks which I refuse to waste my time reading....now reading Facebook...that's never a waste of time!

So, we've been getting ready for Xmas, which mainly means food stock ups, planning exotic desserts like Vodka-chocolate chiles and baking Polvorones, the delightfully tissue paper wrapped Xmas cookies that I plan to give to friends this year.  We've been to one beautiful holiday party and have plans for Xmas Eve listening to Jimi Mamou playing at La Ceiba and Xmas Day with friends, old and new, feeling blessed to be spending another holiday season in the warm air in good health and without the stresses of Xmas at home.  A long beachside walk and some swims before Xmas dinner seems just a little too good to be true.  We miss our family and friends but we realize these are the years that we can do this, because perhaps if the stars align, someday we may have grandchildren who we could not imagine not being with at Xmas....many of our friends are at that stage, and we have heard that sentiment often. 

We've also been choosing tasteful and appropriate gifts for the numerous Mexican children and adults who are part of our life here.  There is little we need, so it's fun to think of others who aren't able to buy for themselves.  Our Nino's Adelante student, Doraliz grew taller this year, and when we noticed that she wasn't wearing the swimsuit we had purchased for her last year, but her younger sister seemed to fit it nicely, we offered to take her shopping...well, not to be left out, her 2 sisters giggled with glee when they also said they didn't fit their suits, so a shopping trip for 3 was in order.  Gringos get preferential treatment in the local department store Coppel which is Mexico's Sears.  I was escorted to the front of the line to pay cash for my purchase,...unlike the locals who are stuck in long lines to arrange credit. 

But this Xmas we are experiencing a creeping realization that the tourists who normally flock here each Xmas may not be coming..... Zihuatanejo is a major Xmas destination for Mexicans and Gringos, but this year the cafes, streets, beaches, stores are quiet  Oh, there are a few new faces in our condo. complex - lucky ones who ask us " do you really live here?"....but the shopkeepers, restaurauters and vendors look anxious when we walk by.  And this is in the midst of the biggest infrastructure rebuilding that we can imagine here.  The Zocalo, the beachside square/basketball court where we have spent many Sunday nights with the locals has been under reconstruction since October.  The new palm trees and plants are alight at night but the workmen are putting in 20 hour days attempting to finish the square before Navidad, working by full moonlight these days. 

The streets of El Centro and La Boquita have been repaved with center dividers planted with palm trees and grass and the shop fronts have all been given the same tile/wood facade with uniform name signs hanging out front.  The town is being rebuilt....but if no one comes, can it survive?  

I hate that people are afraid to come here but I know that little of what I say can change the perception of Mexico that CNN/Fox/ABC has focused on and the distrust of Mexican officials is sadly founded in reality..  But all I can say is that we are so happy to be here living our life with kind and good people who care that we have a safe and happy holiday season in their country, their state and their town.  We are the guests in a warm and colorful place where music, laughter and families will hopefully fill our town for the next 2 weeks and the people here in Zihua will get the rewards for the hardwork they have endured and done this year.   Feliz Navidad a todos!!