Sayulita Surfing & Snacking

We went down to the Punta Mita area last Friday, to a spot called La Lancha, where I took my first ever surf lesson.  Seth tagged along and did his own thing while Lindsay and I took turns with our instructor, Kalle.  I was really impressed by his knowledge of the break and wave reading; he kept us in perfect position and I caught what were surely some of the best rides of my life.  I'm finding that I do okay once I'm up on a wave, but my paddling and board maneuvering was greatly improved by some pointers.

It was such a good lesson and break that we went out again yesterday, again with Lindsay on her last day here. The waves were a bit bigger and the water a little more crowded; I'm not entirely sure that I would have felt comfortable paddling out there on my own.  But being out with Kalle was great; he saw big sets coming in long before we did, which gave us time to paddle into position if we wanted to catch one, or paddle towards the channel to avoid being clobbered. Reading the ocean like this is something I really hope to develop, and I think just takes time and attention. Kalle barely seems to be focused on the ocean, but has spent so much time out there that he still sees things I don't while staring intently at the horizon. Yesterday was far and away my best day of surfing ever.  Many of the waves were coming in head high, and I caught nice really long rides.  I've been renting and riding a long board down here, and my rides were long enough that I got the opportunity to play around with my footing a little. I love classic longboard style: cross steps and nose ridings, high on my list of surfing hopes and dreams.

There are so many talented surfers in this town it's quite inspiring. The other morning we walked down to the beach early, where we saw a kid that I would guess is 6-8 years old outsurf everyone else in the water, even pulling off a headstand at one point. It wasn't even the end of his ride; he flipped back down onto his feet and kept going!  

We can walk a nice loop by going directly out to the beach, walking south a ways, and then coming back to our cabin through town, which is what we did that day, stopping to pick up some croissants along the way to have with coffee back at home. There are several European-style bakeries in town, and we're on something of a mission to find the best one in town.  Food, generally, has been a highlight of this trip. There are a few places that do really interesting varieties of vegetarian dishes. One of my favorites and one of the most interesting so far has been a hibiscus quesadilla. While I've had and enjoyed hibiscus tea and water* before, I had no idea that anyone cooked and ate the flowers, but they're great. The same place makes a tinga, a saucy spiced dish served in a tortilla, taco style, with carrots instead of meat. Next door is a place with fantastic handmade blue corn tortillas, with many veg options for fillings, including poblanos and corn, zucchini, and spiced potatoes. Yesterday I had mole enchiladas there that were so rich I could barely finish my meal, despite its deliciousness.  Of course, we've been getting our fill of fish tacos as well, served all over town in a variety of styles and with several different types of fish as options.

(*if you're unfamiliar with "aguas frescas" they're a commonly served beverage in Mexico: water blended with fruit, or sometimes made from a mix, so that they have a light refreshing sweetness to them)

More soon on new friends and learning Spanish!