Sunday, March 20, 2011

Matanchen Bay/San Blas to Matzatlan

Our stay in Matanchen Bay was a short one, as we are eager to get to the Sea of Cortez. We did revisit the town of San Blas, and had the best street tacos we have ever had. (Thank you Rich on s/v Third Day for taking us there!) Sadly, no Huichol experiences to report, but you can be sure there will be a story or two to tell when we pass this way again in the fall. Our plans for next season still remain unplanned. We may cross to the South Pacific, or head to Panama.....In this moment we are underway to our next stop, Matzatlan. It is 3am. I love it when Patrick and Jack are fast asleep and I have Santosha and what feels like the entire ocean, all to myself. I just finished reading, The Motion of The Ocean, by Janna Cawrse Esary. I could completely relate to her experience of living in a small confined space 24/7 with her mate. She made me feel normal and hopeful. A must read for anyone in a relationship.......in a small confined space, or even in a big wide open field. I am happy to report in with you all, that our relationship is still on the up swing. We have now been living in our walk in closet for 7 months, and neither one of us has thrown the other over board. While, yes, we did come close, on more then one occasion....I only blogged about one....we are learning and growing as a couple and a family. Spending this much time together forces you to iron out every little wrinkle, and actually, I would find it odd if we didn't have to hit the steam button a few times to get out the really stubborn wrinkles. A very good friend of mine made the comment that there is no way in hell she would live on a boat with her husband for a week, let alone two years, and is not surprised at all that the D word came up. She would have tossed her mate over board months ago! And they have a very good marriage......While this is a thought far out of my mind these days, I do have visions of tossing Jacks entire Calvert homeschool curriculum over board most days........and I have yet to meet a boating family who has not had these thoughts......If you are out there, please contact me immediately, I am hopeful Jack is learning what he needs to learn to satisfy the powers that be in the California school system. And if not, then I know this experience is enriching his life in many other ways that can not be measure by the standard STAR testing. Lets face it, there is nothing standard about what we are doing, and how can you even measure it or test it? But still.......there is still the struggle and the stress of teaching that starts most days off on the wrong foot. I am, once again hopeful, that as we round into the second half of our first year at sea, this will shift too, or these books just may go flying! It seems to me, judging the people we have met so far, that the longer you are out here, the more relaxed you become. A few of the families we have met are at the end of their cruising run and are headed back to the U.S.A Just that thought stresses me out more then homeschooling. How will we go from this to that? It is not a thought I think about often, since we are just at the begining of our two year stint, but 7 months have passed at a rather quick pace.....While I do, from time to time, day dream about long hot showers, driving my car to Whole Foods and Trader Joes, (provisioning a boat requires a dinghy ride, or panga ride if there are breaking waves to get to shore, finding a bus, sometimes two busses, to get to a market, then repeating the above to get back to the boat to unload ) I also miss the abundance of healthy fresh food, and storing it in a full size fridge and freezer, and well, just the space in general of living in a house...I miss that. I miss my yoga studio and the quiet space it offered me to escape when Patrick is crunching his chips too loud, I miss wine and laughter with my friends, and my cats Summer and Winter, who probably wont want to live with us after living with my sister....who is spoiling them. I miss mountain biking, and my sweet boys, Alex and Blake and dream of having them here with us again. Oh...and I miss flush toilets..... a lot. But as I sit here, under a ga-zillion stars in the sky, surrounded by Bio Luminesence, flowing with the motion of the ocean, unaware of what day of the week it is, I pinch myself and realize this will all be over way to soon.

4 comments:

  1. So well put! Great summation of oh so much. We are missing you all. xoxo Barb

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  2. Oh Tammy, how I love to read your posts! I sat here with this one and could actually hear your voice and hear your laughter, reactions, revelations and dreams like you are right hear next to me - you also make me laugh out loud which I miss doing so much with you! You are such a good writer.

    Good for you for committing to walk a loving path with your family and spouse, for your commitment to sharing every nuance of your journey so we know how it really is to be on an amazing life changing path such as yours, and for showing us that it is okay to be human and flawed.

    I miss so much about you but am honored to watch you grow and change with this wondrous experience you are having! :)

    Love you my soul sister,

    Lara

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  3. San Blas (Mantanchen Bay) is wonderful. Really, untouched by gringo's due to the mosquito issue, but as Ethan always says "you will always judge street taco's by what is served in San Blas"....and that still holds true. Love that you got to see that and I wonder if you saw the amazing fort which over looks the jungle town below....and if you walked out onto the spit of ocean, you'd find amazing shrines of the Huichol who go there, prior to marriage to pay their respects and the remains they leave behind, in offerings, are amazing and special to see lying in the sand.....xoxoxo Nancy s/v EYONI

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  4. What you share and the way you share it is so inspiring. I do feel like I'm there with you when I read these journal logs. The contrast between your daily freedom and connection to the natural world, and this life of mine that is so much in reaction to people and things - it's striking to say the least. We have most of our plan for Africa in place now - will be gone 5 weeks including trip in/out, and will be seeing so much and living at such a different pace. I can't wait! You are blessing all of us with this life you live. I love that we can stay connected this way. God bless you, all three.

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