New Year's Day

These photos are also from Chico's, taken on New Years Day.

This is New Year’s Day, 2007, in Chacala. Lots of people are on the beach, and filling the restaurants, rentals, and camping areas. Many are from the area (Las Varas, Zaculpan, Compostella), and some of the little towns, like Alta Vista, and El Capomo. Some are from Tepic and Guadalajara, and even further away. School doesn’t start until January 8th, and lots of families are on vacation.

There seem to be fewer beach vendors than I remember from last year. But maybe that’s because I am not living under a ramada on the beach this winter. And more and more people are taking their trash with them. Or at least taking it off the beach. Last night I was walking home from Majahua. I was picking up plastic trash below the high tide line. When my arms were full, I asked a family sitting on the beach if they had a bag I could use for the trash. And, lo and behold, they had a real trash bag, already half-full of trash. And not only that, their two teenage boys were cleaning up a whole stretch of the beach. They were from Guadalajara, and spoke a little English.As I walked along, everytime my arms were full of trash, I asked a family on the beach for a bag. And all but one family had some sort of trash bag. And they were policing up their picnic areas. I can’t tell you how different it was from last year. When people didn’t even want a trash bag if someone offered it too them. I think the school and government are promoting litter-consciousness this year. It was an amazing change, for the better.

The water looks very inviting from my teraza, but I am cooking some chicken right now, and distracting myself from wanting to go down to the beach for a swim by writing this.Rinsing off the salt water at the water tank and bathrooms in Chico's parking lot.

I am still working on my resolution for 2007. I am kind of refining it as the day goes on. However, I don’t think I am going to be really successful at changing my basic personality. Which seems to be loaded (as shown in this blog) with judgmental-ness and critical (as in negative) thinking. However, I am trying to change. Just in case there really are some pearly gates awaiting for me when I die.I did realize today how annoying I find it to have an English speaker correct my Spanish, without my asking for help. Particularly when it’s a person whose Spanish is nothing to brag about. And I didn’t react very well when it happened today. And, of course, the person was right. Oh well.