OY. It is truly taking me forever to get through these photos and blogging with a handful of other projects and the usual Family Life on the go! The vacation halo has officially worn off!
The wedding finished off with comfy clothes, lots of water, a few coffees and chatting until almost 4am. Ok, maybe a few instances of nameless barfers (whether from food poisoning or drinking, we will never know…) but all-in-all a nice chill easing out of wedding mode.
The next day was a free for all. I had anticipated the wedding night would have hit new heights of celebration. With this in mind while designing their wedding itinerary trifold (a separate post to come…) I made the 29th RECOVERY DAY. It was. The morning was slow but lovely. Pretty much everyone had plans to go into town, myself especially! I needed to take the bus back to PV at some point that day, so I was in a hurry to explore the town as much as possible. Breakfasts were being cooked up on both the bride's side and the groom's side, coffee and VIP view included. I took my plate outside and enjoyed the warm morning sun, overlooking the town with bridesmaid Dorothy. Everything about this trip has been unreal. Absolutely everything, all the people I got to spend time with, to freely enjoy both worlds, one-on-one adult time and a few doses of family/kid times. As ridiculous as it may sound, having garlic fried rice and mango with my omelette and bacon totally made my morning. It was such a treat because even though I grew up with these foods (Filipino-Chinese background) and fusions of Asian-Western food, I don't ever integrate it into my own life. I might start replacing my morning egg + toast with egg on garlic fried rice. And maybe eat more fresh mangoes in the morning once they are no longer $8 each at Thrifty's…
I got dropped off in town with my camera bag. My suitcase was taken to store over at Edwin + JP's place in town so I wouldn't have to climb the daring hill back to wedding headquarters when it was time for me to catch the bus. It was like a tiny downtown Vancouver, except cobblestones, sometimes with questionable liquid that made me cringe to roll my baggage over. I spent the first while going through the first few shops, taking careful notes of things I wanted to get before deciding what to splurge on. I had no checked baggage and therefor very limited space in my camera backpack and carry-on sized roller suitcase. My predominant obsession was the stuffies. Like, I don't even want to post them because I am so greedy, I don't want anyone else to have them. If I had the choice, I would have bought every single last one in Mexico. Also, I kind of have plans to just start making my own… I also was tempted 100 times to buy the pom-poms but I kept reminding myself of the 10 POM POM DIYS I already had on Pinterest.
I trekked down to the beach in between my indecisive stuffies anxiety. I had whizzed by the beach on the back of the golf cart on the way to the wedding the previous day and was determined to check it out. It ended up being an overcast day despite the initial sunny morning, so not quite the hot beach I was hoping for. Still, it was beautiful. Super crazy crowded but really so beautiful. Lots of people catching waves, lots of families just playing in the surf. I wished countless times that my fam could be with me to soak in all of this excitement and beauty, to run into the waves with my kids and laugh our butts off, to see whether Malcolm would love or be terrified of the waves, to see Kevin relaxed and enjoying himself for once in his life... but with each wish, I reminded myself to let go and to enjoy the freedom of being on my own, on my own schedule, on my own terms, JUST ME. It was almost an out of body experience not being with the family for 5 days straight. I have never done that in all the time that I have children. And even before having children, I went only as far as Vegas a couple of times with Kevin and then to Cuba for our Honeymoon. It was definitely a deep and very holy breath of fresh air for me after 7 years of motherhood.
I retreated from the beach and just happened to run into Jade who taught me how to haggle. I was impressed with her haggling and needed to see it in action because I am a PUSSY. By the end of the day, I left with a mermaid, a unicorn, a giraffe, a crocodile and a donkey. I got a great deal on the unicorn, but ripped on the donkey + crocodile from another table because I had gone to the table 3 times and it was pretty clear that I was in love with them! Dude knew the Asian with the black hat would be coming back, he saw the suffering in her soul, that she could not live without his crocodile + donkey hahaha!
We eventually ran into Rob and his gang in the town square who then walked me to their place to grab my luggage. I hadn't planned to stay much longer but I ended up catching the 8:30pm bus in the end! On the way to grab my luggage, we passed a cafe where the photographers/videographers were lunching with a few other pairs of photographers. I was waved over and I said I would be back. It was a while before I returned but I eventually found my way back just as they were finishing up. They invited me back to their headquarters, Las Cupulas, which was friggin BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!! It is now lodged in my brain that I would like to stay here the next time I am able to visit with a few other people!
I said farewell and thank-you to the photo crew and ventured back into town. I had to pick up those last two animals! I had to! I also hadn't found Evoke the Spirit yet, the popular store to check out with all the cattle skulls. I wanted one so badly but there was no way I could have carried it around with me and I was nervous whether or not I would be penalized or have it confiscated at the airport since it was an actual animal. Plus, when I came home and told Kevin, he said he hated it and would not have let me put it up hahaha. I guess it doesn't really match the mid-century look we're going for. I found a good little street with all the flags and NO cars for a picture. I checked out a few more stores and then decided to walk to the busstop to check how late and what time the busses were running. They went quite late and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast so I went back into town via the beach to find a place to eat. I was propositioned by an eccentric looking dude as I trudged through the sand:
Do you have a lover?!!
Yes, and 3 kids!
Oh ok! ok! I love you! I love you!
I was getting stressed, super nervous about the possibility of getting sick. It was dark now. I eventually found Burrito Revolution after walking up and down the streets and waited a really long time for fish tacos. They were worth it. I put all three sauces on, mild medium and hot, and then stopped to take a few crappy photos, and drink my margarita, and savour all the flavours. I'm mad at myself for not taking any night time photos of the town. So mad. I messaged The Stones that I would be on the 8:30PM bus back to PV and started walking back to the bus station.
Me waiting at the bus station. So sad to be leaving so soon, but so happy and so invigorated to have had the opportunity to explore the little town all on my own with no binding schedules or little lives to put before my own. I boarded the bus which filled up quickly with tourists and locals mashed down the aisle. I asked the driver a few times to let me know when we got to the Wal-Mart, but he still took me past it and all the way to the airport. I had to loop around back and cross the street. I felt bad, not realizing the Little Stones were in the car, probably very restless and impatient! We headed towards their second dwelling, a family friend's place. It was dark, but going out onto the patio and looking out, I knew I was in for another breath-taking view in the morning...