Regreso a Mexico

(typing quickly from my iPhone because I refuse to use a computer while on vacation...)

It's hard to believe, but the last time I was in Mexico was in december of 2003, after I had been here for 4 months learning Spanish. I had such an affection for the country after my months here, and it took me a while to get back.

On Friday I landed in cabo San Jose airport after a 3-hour flight from SFO. I rented a car (upgraded to a jetta so I could plug in my iPhone for music, and to make damn sure that what happened in brazil - a broke down rental - didn't happen again). In immigration I saw the typical idiot American with a 10x jumbo size sombrero. He was undoubtedly going to cabo San Lucas. I was very happy to drive straight through cabo on my way to the more tranquil environs of Todos Santos (not to be confused with Poco Santo, the Mexican town in The Three Amigos). I stopped by a local taco joint in san jose (taqueria mexico) recommended by the rental car guy, then drive straight up the coast.

Cabo is exactly what you think it is - nice hotels like the Westin, etc, but you could pretty much call it "las Vegas," "cancun," or any other mega resort enclave... They're all the same. I read in Lonely Planet that Sammy Hagar's birthday is a legit, big time event in cabo. Pass.

The weather was actually quite rare for this area at this time of year - clouds, lightning, but not much rain. It made for some dramatic scenery on the 1:45 drive from the airport to Todos Santos. The highway is still being worked on in preparation for the G20 meetings in june, but definitely passable. There's not much between cabo and todos santos, so I put the window down, cranked up my music, and enjoyed the scenery.

I had no idea where my hotel was, but since the town is small I figured I'd find it, which I did. The hotel is a converted home of an old sugar cane baron. Really cool place. 7 rooms, courtyard, small pool, library, bar, and restaurant. All the reading materials are in English. Telling.

Anyway, I was happy to have picked a good hotel, and after a few moments of "ok, what the hell do I do now?" I went to sleep at 10.

In the morning (today), I woke up after one of the best nights of sleep ive had in a long time... Solid 10 hours. Breakfast (included in my stay) was an omelette, fresh oj, and fresh fruit. Great way to start the day.

I left to drive 20 minutes to the surf lesson beach, but somehow missed the turn. So I pulled into a residential area and asked a few bystanders, and one woman told me how to get there and asked if I could take her and her runny nose baby there. Why not.

With my personal guide, we made it to the beach (she also told me about her family's ranch in the mountains that hosts tourists... Probably won't have time for it this trip, though).

Surf lessons with Mario. Mario is Mexican but speaks perfect English. E set me up with one of his instructors, Carlos. I did pretty well. The lesson was short, but I picked it up pretty quickly. He said tomorrow we'll tackle some bigger waves. Believe me, they're pretty big waves. I'm excited.

After some lounging at the beach and talking to mario and a few gringos that came by, I came back to the hotel and went out for lunch. Delicious, gourmet stuff, and I took my time. Chocolate mousse for desert? Yes please.

I walked around todos santos, which took all of 45 minutes. There is more, but I didn't feel like walking into any art galleries or buy any trinkets, so figured I'd go on a run later to explore. I read at the hotel for a couple hours and talked to some more gringo hotel guests. After asking Pepe, the hotel caretaker, what he was drinking (wine), he gave me a glass on the house.

I went for a run in the "real" todos santos, showered up, then went to the local theater. On my run the guy in front asked me to come back at 8. I couldn't understand what actually happened at 8 - either bingo or a theater production. Turned out to be a theater thing. There were about 10 people in the audience. I figured it would be nice to have some local culture, but this was painful. Fail. I left quietly after 30 minutes. (the play was about old women who try to hire a male stripper).

I had dinner at a normal place, and spoke Spanish with the waiter. Funny thing about everyone here - they will not speak spanish to you. Even if you keep on speaking Spanish, they try I speak English. Granted, most f the tourists here are older art gallery-types who probably don't know a lick of Spanish themselves (I'm judging here, but am probably right). So I get it. But it's annoying - not that they speak English, but that this town is overridden by gringos.

I came back to the hotel and Pepe was watching a boxing match on the computer, so I got a glass of port (my favorite) and watched it with him and the night watchman. NOW I could speak some spanish! The night watchman had some pretty graphic things to say when the obligatory "hot women in Mexican beer ads" came on. I can't repeat specifics here. He knew a few choice American words, and used them awkwardly.

... And that's the day. In between my activities I did a good amount of reading. Tomorrow is more surfing, and I will try to finish the book i started on the plane flight here. It's a smarty-pants book on behavioral economics and global development. I like it.

In all, a very good day. I'm resisting the urge to do stuff; rather, I'm adopting the muy tranquilo vibe of this town.

Bedtime.

Born in a small town...

Let's put Gossling aside for the moment.

Tomorrow I fly to Cincinnati, where I'll spend the week doing client work. Then I go to Durham for my Fuqua reunion. I've been to Seattle three times in the past two months, Boston/Connecticut last week, and next week I'll be in a small town on the Baja Peninsula. I signed up for a 10-day canyoneering trek in September through Outward Bound. Over memorial day I'm going with business school friends to Yosemite for the weekend. I'll be in DC and then immediately to Durham for weddings in early June. Wow. I say this to point out that this year I'm getting to see a lot of different places, and everywhere I go I think "is this for me?". I'll be honest - I am very happy living in San Francisco. It's a good life. BUT, being able to see all of these different places in quick succession has me thinking about my natural state... Where is my home turf? Where am I most myself? I think this is an important question to answer, and act upon.

When I was in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, I took the super shuttle from Kentucky (where the airport is) into "the Nati.". I could feel it... The feeling was different. It felt familiar to what I know. When I got to the hotel, I immediately jetted off for a run through the university of Cincinnati campus. Weather was warm, sidewalks were plentiful, and it was quiet. Hm. Big rush.

A couple months ago I went to Oakland to and out with Lloyd, a friend from college. We went out to a place called the "Missouri Lounge"... True dive bar. We walked there from a totally normal Mexican restaurant... No pretension. When I came back to Lower Haight later that night, i noticed, and FELT a) more people walking around, and b) hipsters. Dare I say that I preferred the "realness" of Oakland?

Connecticut last week. I took the train from Boston down to Mystic, CT, where grandma lives. I tried to work on the train, but couldn't help but stare out the window. What might otherwise pass as mundane - patches of trees, back yards, even empty lots (now that I mention it, ESPECIALLY empty lots)... Again, it felt more like home. Felt right. I get the same feeling when I'm taking the Link train from the Seattle airport into downtown.

Last example for today - the suburbs. Yes, the suburbs. I grew up in them. I know that people don't like them. There are indeed aspects of the burbs that I grew tired of. No doubt about it. I don't think I want to live in the burbs, but a place like Durham... Hmmm. Even a neighborhood with small back or front yards would do.

Am I glorifying the small(er) town? Or is there something to these thoughts? I wrote all of this while on the bike at a gym, instead of outside enjoying my own neighborhood, so maybe I'm full of it. But I don't think I am.

By the way, Neil Young's still got it: check out "walk with me".

Even More Cool

If the first Ryan Gossling song didn't do it for you, this will:



Gossling.

Feeling Cool

1) Go watch the movie Drive with Ryan Gossling

2) Listen to this song over and over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8&ob=av3e

3) Feel about 100 times cooler than you actually are. BUT, for the few minutes you're listening to the song, you ARE in fact cooler. You... are Ryan Gossling. 

Back Porch Music

Whenever it was possible, one of my favorite rituals in Durham was to wind down the weekend (which were usually busy) by working out at the East Campus gym (about a 7 minute run from my apartment), stopping at Whole Foods on the way back and buying a healthy meal, then listening to "back porch music" on WUNC.

It's been a great weekend, and, just like in Durham, I feel the need to listen to some good 'ol Appalachian music.  Here's the link: http://wunc.org/programs/backporchmusic/

Boys of Summer

Yes, I know it's a cover.  Yes, I know it's by one of those 1000 pop, post-punk bands.  But I don't care.  This song gets me pumped up.

Neighborhood Tour

Last Sunday was a beautiful day, so I decided to walk around my neighborhood (and apartment) and take some video.  My friend Rhianon took some video of her life in Bentonville, Arkansas, and I was inspired to do the same thing.

My apologies that the video is shaky at the beginning, but it gets better.  It's a simple video... not much but my walking around my neighborhood and narrating a bit.

Video 1: My apartment, Duboce park, and Market Street

Video 2: Haight street, and the first part of Alamo Square

Video 3: The rest of Alamo Square

All three videos combined are about 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

P.S. Realization of the day: I am addicted to the Downton Abbey TV series on PBS (much like I am addicted to Game of Thrones on HBO).

Disconnecting experiment, part 1

To put the principle of disconnecting (that I talked about in a previous blog post) into action, at 11am this morning I turned off my cell phone, packed some reading materials (Wall Street Journal, a book on education reform, and the Atlantic Monthly), and rode my bike through Golden Gate park to Ocean Beach.  I could have taken the N Judah light rail (called the "Muni" in San Francisco) straight to the same spot, but decided that a bike would give me extra mobility once down there.  A recent edition of Sunset Magazine (a magazine about things to do west of the Rockies) had a 2-page article on the coffee houses and restaurants in Ocean Beach, so I put the article in my pocket and headed down to the ocean.

(It was in the high 60's today, sunny, and with a fairly warm breeze.  This made it a given that I would spend a good portion of the day outside).

So, I read the WSJ for the first hour while sitting on a bench near the beach, then rode a few blocks over to the heart of Ocean Beach.  The neighborhood feels like a surf community - much quieter than places like Huntington Beach or Santa Monica, and probably more like Santa Cruz (these are my only points of comparison re: beach towns).  There were a few choice coffee shops/brunch places.  I walked into a shop called the General Store (I think) - a low-key, design-esque shop with some coffee table books, a few t-shirts, etc.  Anyway, the most well known restaurant had an hour-long wait, so I biked a few more blocks to a bakery and had a curried chicken salad sandwich, with a biscuit as the bread.  I continued reading there while getting some sun, went back to the beach for a few minutes, then took the 71 bus straight back to Lower Haight (didn't feel like riding and wanted to keep reading my book on the bus).  

I lasted about five hours without my iPhone, and it felt... good.  During my experiment, the thought that my cell phone was turned off popped into my mind every once in a while, but I brushed the temptation aside.  I'm glad I did.

Ocean Beach, looking north

Back yard of the "General Store"

This is what many of the houses in Ocean Beach/Outer Sunset look like

Where I ate lunch: the Devil's Teeth Baking Company

Sitting on a sand dune before heading home

Good Feelin'

I'm diggin' this song (although the video is kind of lame).  Thanks to Spotify for getting me hooked on all of these types of songs...

Disconnecting

I've noticed an increase in the frequency of articles in the WSJ or NYT about the consequences of our constantly being on phones, the Internet, etc. Here is the latest one:

http://nyti.ms/u7fIA5

I've always aspired to disconnect - to have quiet moments of reflection and recovery. Moments of uninterrupted purity. For me, this desire involves an appreciation for the outdoors (where appreciating and contemplating simple things is most likely to happen), a belief (from personal experience and from science) that slowing down and disconnecting gives space for creativity and deeper thinking, and the self-knowledge that I simply need time and space (sometimes from people, sometimes from technology) to feel whole.

I was about to write something like "given the nature of my job, it is very difficult to disconnect.". But to be honest, it's probably more of a discipline problem than an inherent problem with my chosen profession. I COULD not check email for chunks of time during the day (the article mentions Intel had experimented with mandating employees do this), I COULD leave my cell phone at home for periods of time (the fallout of my friends and family not being able to text me and receive and immediate response wouldn't be as disastrous as I fear). And so on.

So, part of disconnecting comes down to discipline and knowing what your values are - do you WANT to disconnect?

I spent the past few days with my family in Mentone, Alabama, which is in the hilly Cumberland Plateau at the corner of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. I turned off my cell phone for a couple days. To be honest, from the moment that I turned off my cellphone, I felt more at peace. Without the temptation of compulsively checking my email, I dove into reading the Steve Jobs biography (ironically, it was an iPhone that I shut down). Three days later I emerged having made a significant dent in the book, but more importantly having been able to focus intensely on one thing for a few days. The satisfaction that this focus and calm gave me was immense, and it felt... just right.

side note: Steve Jobs himself is a bit of a paradoxical figure because of his fanaticism for Zen, simplicity, and self-awareness contrasts with his role as a consumer products guru. Some people might be able to reconcile these two belief systems, but I think they clash. However, given the world we live in, Apple products are a hell of a lot more helpful than many other tech solutions when it comes to helping us simplify (but not disconnect). But I digress...

Anyway, post business school, I've had the chance to take more time for disconnecting, and am excited to continue down the path if finding the right balance.

My grandfather had a sign right above his desk at home that simply said "Slow Down." (not too hard to do in rural Tennessee where he lived). I like this reminder. Simplicity, disconnecting, quiet, slow, space. All of these ideas are a bit different, but are related in the sense that they offer a respite that I (and I suspect many others) need today in order to be at peace.