November has ended and with it has come a sense of clarification about what I'm experiencing this, the beginning of my fourth winter, here in Zihuatanejo. I came back here wanting things to be the same, seeing the same people, enjoying the same places and things to do, and having the same feelings - the "mexican moments" that first hooked me on life here. And I noticed some changes. I heard about stores and services that had closed their doors. I met a favorite waiter who we first met 7 years ago, who had impressed us with his English and his attention to detail on his job. Martine had been without work and had been reduced to working for "tips only" at my least favorite restaurant....a real tragedy from my perspective. I had heard that a couple of very successful restaurant owners had resorted to selling their personal vehicles in order to pay the bills. The tourists that I expected to see in November have been largely absent, only now at the end of November arriving in full airplanes but disappearing and not to be seen in large numbers along the beaches or waterfront restaurants. We are happy that our familiar neighbours and friends are all returning and evenings are spent catching up at dinners on our porch, around the pool or in local cafes. We all notice the same thing, the town seems to be slowed down.... Has Zihuatanejo become a kind of "missed opportunity"...can it survive in the midst of a global recession and a very real "drug war" that has drastically reduced tourism and changed the pace of development that seemed to be running wild when we first began spending our winters here? 
But if I look more closely, I see that this town is still alive. It has a beat and a rhythm that hasn't changed much for many years. The locals go about their day to day lives and work in the same way they have since we arrived here 7 years ago. I can count on seeing the same people in the same places at the same times each day. My walks give me an opportunity to observe and reflect on what I see. My prediction is that I am observing a cycle of change....there are less tourists coming here for short hotel stay style vacations. Cruise ships are almost non-existent this year. Instead, there are people like me who have chosen to make this home. We don't eat out as much, we don't take banana boat rides, or do parasailing. But what we do is love this place, it's people and we seek out it's beauty. We spend our money in the local businesses, we do home repairs, we buy gas to use our car to see places we cannot walk to. And we try to share our comparative wealth by hiring help to do work we might normally do at home ourselves. Here it is wonderful to know that the small price tag for buying a custom made chair cover, shoes or custom shelves is really staying in the local economy. We know our tradespeople, we know their families and we know that their need is real and that the money we spend is their lifeblood. I am also meeting more and more young Mexicans who speak almost perfect English after a few years of living and working in the US. They are returning home and hoping to make a success of their lives back in the country that will always be in their hearts. No longer is the dream of living and working in the US a reality for young Mexicans....the hope they hold for their futures is here. 
We see the need for the infrastructure projects like the current re-making of our neighbourhood main street Calle Adelita. What might have been a small resurfacing has turned into a megaproject, one that has disrupted the lives of all the locals and tourists alike. However, Mexicans have learned the art of patience and hope and they smile at us as we pick our way past the huge holes for the promised sewer pipes, they are proud that this work will inevitably improve their beloved colonia. I hope that I can look back on this in a month or two and see that it was all worth it. As a member of the community I am counting on someone in this supposedly corrupt local government to get it right and complete a much needed sewage line and at the same time re-creating the beauty that was this quaint cobblestone boulevard to town. 
At least once a week, we like to take a break and drive out of town to get the "big air". Today Iris and I had the great pleasure of meeting Franca as we walked my favorite stretch of beach between Barra de Potosi and Chula Vida. Actually it was Cori who prompted our meeting. His vitality and pure joy was the spark that prompted our conversation. We were invited to see this artists' home and meet her husband and see the beauty they are creating in their private and tranquil property. The home is a mixture of her Italian roots and the local beauty of one of the most pristine beaches still accessible on the West Coast. And the best news of all,....she is a professional chef and is beginning to offer Italian meals in her home and we might just be lucky enough to be some of her first guests. 
We spent the day at one of our favorite spots, the small seaside Cabana "Chula Vida" and indeed it is a sweet life if one can look a little beneath the surface...good things are indeed still happening here in Zihuatanejo!
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